Behind big 6th inning, Pirates score 10 runs, most ever against Red Sox

The Pittsburgh Pirates already had scored four runs when Oneil Cruz crushed a solo home run over the Green Monster to start a five-run sixth inning that put them in position to do something special.

Not since 1915 — when Hall of Famers Max Carey and Honus Wagner were in the lineup for the Pirates — had they scored double-digit runs at Fenway Park.

The Pirates scored the most runs ever against the Boston Red Sox and matched their most at Fenway with a 10-3 win Saturday afternoon to clinch a series victory with a chance to sweep.

“I think we came into a tough atmosphere, a tough place against a really good team and we’ve proven that we belong here the past two days,” Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “I think we have a really good chance to sweep tomorrow with Mitch (Keller) on the mound, so I’m excited for that.”

It’s the most runs the Pirates have scored at Fenway in 110 years, dating to a 10-6 win over the Boston Braves on May 15, 1915. It also matches the most runs allowed by the Red Sox this season.

The Pirates (61-76) got a strong start from Johan Oviedo, who allowed two runs on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts in five innings. And Oviedo got plenty of offensive support as the Pirates had a dozen hits and drew seven walks. Every player in the lineup had a hit, and Gonzales, Spencer Horwitz and Andrew McCutchen had two apiece.

They got the scoring started in the first inning when leadoff batter Jared Triolo reached on a fielding error by first baseman Romy Gonzalez, advanced to third on a Horwitz single and scored on Tommy Pham’s groundout to third for a 1-0 lead.

“I thought we did a really good job continuing to get guys on base, continuing to add on throughout the game,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said, “especially that first inning to have the bases loaded and only come away with one run there.”

Triolo singled in his second at-bat but was thrown out attempting to steal second base on a pinpoint throw by Carlos Narvaez. The Red Sox catcher then started the bottom of the third by driving Oviedo’s full-count slider 396 feet and over the Green Monster in left to tie the score.

The Red Sox took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Trevor Story drew a leadoff walk, stole second, advanced to third on groundout and scored on a fielder’s choice by Ceddanne Rafaela.

The Pirates answered with a three-run fifth. Isiah Kiner-­Falefa singled, Triolo was hit by a pitch and Horwitz drew a walk to load the bases for Bryan Reynolds, who lined a two-run single to right field for a 3-2 lead. Pham followed with an RBI single to left to make it 4-2.

When May left an 0-1 fastball over the middle, Cruz crushed it 426 feet over the Monster to start the sixth with a solo shot for his 19th home run and a 5-2 Pirates lead. It was Cruz’s first homer since Aug. 1 and snapped him out of a 1-for-11 funk since returning from the seven-day concussion injured list Aug. 26.

“I don’t think there’s a ballpark on this planet that he can’t hit the ball out of, so that was cool to see,” Gonzales told SportsNet Pittsburgh in an on-field postgame interview. “Him coming back from the concussion and everything is awesome. To get his bat going and see what he can do on the field is pretty spectacular.”

Added Oviedo: “I’ve never seen anybody go that far from the left side and that way. That was impressive.”

After Joey Bart followed with a double to center, Triolo drew a one-out walk and the Red Sox turned to lefty Brennan Bernardino. Horwitz singled to center, and both runners scored when Rafaela’s throw skipped past Carlos Narvaez as the Pirates increased their lead to 7-2. Bernardino then walked Reynolds and Pham to load the bases. Gonzales hit a two-out, two-run single to center to make it 9-2.

Mike Burrows, a Waterford, Conn., native, relieved Oviedo in the sixth and gave up hits to the first three batters he faced, including an RBI single by Gonzalez to score Story and make it 9-3, but got David Hamilton swinging and Narvaez looking at a full-count fastball to leave the bases loaded.

“He made a huge pitch there,” Kelly said. “That’s it. He’s cool, calm, collected but he’s a competitor out there.”

The Red Sox got two more hits off Burrows in the seventh, but he got a pair of big defensive plays to save runs. Cruz made a diving catch to rob Alex Bregman, and Reynolds made a shoestring catch to steal one from Masataka Yoshida to strand both runners.

The Pirates made it 10-3 in the ninth when McCutchen hit a leadoff single, reached third on a Gonzales double and scored on a wild pitch by Jordan Hicks.

After splitting their four-game series at St. Louis, the Pirates clinched a winning road trip by beating the Red Sox. The Pirates have won eight of their last 10 and nine of 12 and have a chance to sweep the Red Sox at Fenway on Sunday afternoon.

“Continue to battle. We talk about it every day: find a way to get better,” Kelly said. “This road trip, going into St. Louis — obviously, we wish we would’ve won that series — but to split there and then come and face Red Sox team at home with a bunch of guys that haven’t played at Fenway. I’m just really proud of the way we’ve been playing.”