Johan Oviedo earns 1st victory since 2023, as Pirates beat Blue Jays to clinch series win

Johan Oviedo wanted his second start for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season to go better than his first, so the right-hander had to recalibrate after George Springer started the game with a leadoff home run.

That was the only run allowed by Oviedo over five innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. After a 10-pitch at-bat against Springer, Oviedo harnessed his emotions and locked in to get a pair of punchouts to finish the first inning on his way to a six-strikeout performance.

Tommy Pham’s two-run double in the bottom of the first proved to be all the run support the Pirates needed to beat the AL East-leading Blue Jays, 2-1, on Wednesday afternoon before 14,019 at PNC Park.

“Oh my goodness, what a job he did,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “That first at-bat against Springer was such a battle. Springer taking him deep, and for him to settle down, get back in the groove, attack with his fastball, throwing the slider efficiently, mixing in some changeups, really happy to see him out there doing what Ovi does.”

By taking two out of three against Toronto (74-54), it marked the first series win for the Pirates since they swept the San Francisco Giants from July 28-30. The Pirates (54-74) also improved to 23-27 in one-run games, as three relievers combined for four scoreless frames.

It was a nice bounce-back start for Oviedo (1-0), whose earned his first major-league victory since Sept. 21, 2023. His return from Tommy John surgery was abbreviated Aug. 4 after he gave up two runs on two hits and three outs with three strikeouts on 43 pitches in the first inning against the Giants at PNC Park.

That forced the Pirates to use four relievers to cover the final eight innings of the 5-4 win and prompted them to option Oviedo to the minors to make room for bullpen help. Oviedo was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier Wednesday, and to make room on the active roster, the Pirates optioned left-handed reliever Evan Sisk.

“Just tried to keep it like I was doing down there,” Oviedo said. “It was another game. Back of my mind, definitely, you’re in the big leagues for the second time in a while. But my mindset was it’s another game. Been doing this for a long time. So, thankfully, all the stuff was there, and it went the way we wanted.”

Springer started the game by working a full count, then hitting a slider on his 10th pitch 355 feet down the left-field line for his 21st home run. It was the 61st leadoff homer of Springer’s career. Oviedo recovered to get Addison Barger to ground out to second before striking out Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk.

“The way he was able to get back in the moment after that at-bat and their lineup is really good,” Kelly said. “When you talk about Barger coming after him, then Bichette and Kirk, you just saw him continue to attack with it. He had a couple sprays in there, but most of those pitches were still attacking the zone, which was a good sign after a long first at-bat.”

Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt (11-7) recorded 10 strikeouts in 5²⁄₃ innings but allowed two runs on six hits and two walks. The damage was done in the bottom of the first, when the Pirates took a 2-1 lead.

Bassitt stuck out the first two batters before Bryan Reynolds doubled to left and Spencer Horwitz drew a walk. Blue Jays fans booed heartily when Pham came to bat, still angered by his bat flip and choice words for catcher Tyler Heineman that caused benches to clear Monday night.

“He feeds off it,” Kelly said of Pham, who was batting .170 on April 30 but has since raised his average to .263. “To see the way that he’s worked this year, it’s that Pittsburgh-based mentality of just continuing to fight and compete. To be where he was for part of the first half and to come back and be where he is now and what’s he’s doing for the ballclub and helping us win baseball games, just really impressive the grit and the fight he brings every day.”

Pham, who responded by hitting a 1-0 sinker down the left-field line to drive in both runners for the lead, said the jeers don’t faze him.

“I got booed every game here the first half,” Pham said. “I guess that wasn’t anything new to me. That’s just the truth. I got booed every day here in the first half. Oh well.”

The Pirates threatened to increase their lead in the fifth, when Liover Peguero and Nick Gonzales singled and Reynolds drew a full-count walk to load the bases. But Bassitt got Horwitz to fly out to left to strand all three runners and keep it a one-run game.

The Pirates bullpen kept the Blue Jays off the scoreboard, as Kyle Nicolas tossed two scoreless innings, Isaac Mattson one and Dennis Santana survived Kirk’s fly ball that defensive replacement Alexander Canario caught against the right-center wall to earn his ninth save.

It was a special moment for Oviedo, who joined his teammates in the dugout to watch the Pirates clinch the series win, then was celebrated for earning his first victory in almost two years.

“Just tried to keep myself positive. I’m not trying to let my emotions control me like what happened last time,” Oviedo said. “Just reminded that this is the big leagues, and you’re going to have challenges. But at the end of the day, you’re a competitor so just keep getting ahead, keep throwing strikes and something good will happen.”