BOSTON _ Once the pitchers' duel ceased on a chilly April night at Fenway Park, with left-hander Chris Sale and right-hander Jameson Taillon spent after seven scoreless innings Wednesday, a battle of bullpens emerged. It ended with Sandy Leon at bat in the 12th inning.
It ended with left-hander Antonio Bastardo walking back to the Pirates dugout, disgusted, as the Boston Red Sox mobbed Leon, their No. 9 hitter, at home plate. It ended with Leon's three-run home run over the Green Monster that scored the only runs of the game, a 3-0 Red Sox win.
After Jackie Bradley Jr. walked with one out in the 12th, Bastardo had him picked off, but first baseman Phil Gosselin misfired on his throw to second. Pablo Sandoval walked, and Leon sent most of the masses home happy.
The Pirates (0-2) had only five hits. None of their runners reached second base.
Taillon started his sophomore season with seven shutout innings. He struck out six, used 95 pitches and allowed five hits and three walks. In high-leverage moments he shined, same as last season. As a rookie in 2016, Taillon had a 3.38 ERA and pitched at least six innings during 12 of 18 starts. He was the steadiest starter for a rotation that so desperately needed stability.
Andrew McCutchen, making his second start in right field, potentially prevented three runs Wednesday. In the third, he gunned Sandy Leon at home plate. In the fourth, McCutchen retreated to the warning track, his back bumping the bullpen wall, and pulled in Mitch Moreland's fly ball, the slugger's bid for a two-run home run. Taillon pointed toward McCutchen in right field, and Starling Marte looked around at the ballpark's screens to see a video replay.
McCutchen had history with the Red Sox starter. In high school, McCutchen, from Fort Meade (Fla.) High School, hit a home run off Sale, the Lakeland High left-hander, that was estimated at 440 feet. Sale's father later joked to the Naples Daily News, "I think it was closer to 475 feet."
Apparently Sale has improved over the past decade and a half. He had the better of McCutchen and the rest of the Pirates lineup Wednesday. In seven innings, Sale surrendered three base hits and a walk, and no runner advanced beyond first base. He struck out seven.
The efficiency was not unexpected.
"Ask American League hitters. Ask National League hitters," manager Clint Hurdle said before the game. "There's finish to his pitches. There's velocity from a very unorthodox angle. You don't see it a lot. That being said, it's still got to be in the strike zone. We need to make him throw strikes."
Sale fired strikes, and Taillon matched him pitch for pitch.
Taillon, like right-hander Gerrit Cole in the opener, smacked into trouble in the fifth. Chris Young walked leading off. Bradley singled, moving Young to third, and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. Taillon showed no sign of distress. He climbed the later to whiff Pablo Sandoval.
With Leon, the No. 9 hitter, approaching the plate, the Pirates infield gathered on the mound. Leon had bunted against the shift in the opener, a crippling play in a five-run fifth. The infield returned to its positions, unshifted, and Taillon stuck out Leon on four pitches.
With Pedroia's weak grounder back to Taillon, the escape was complete.
The Pirates offense outlasted Sale, but never found the ignition switch. They appeared to have life in the ninth after Sandoval booted a Jordy Mercer grounder, but Marte popped up a bunt _ maybe a manager's decision, maybe his own _ and McCutchen and Polanco hit grounders.
Right-hander Daniel Hudson was perfect in the eighth, and left-hander Felipe Rivero the ninth and right-hander Juan Nicasio the 11th. In between, closer Tony Watson loaded the bases with two outs in the 10th before getting Andrew Benintendi on a chopper to second base.
In a similar jam in the 12th, Bastardo couldn't find the exit.
