- From PNC Park in Pittsburgh, it’s Red Sox vs Pirates in the 2nd of 3
- Boston starts righty Sonny Gray
- Pittsburgh sends righty Jared Jones to the mound
Gray Continues to Lead the AL in Wins
Although the Red Sox have had an up-and-down season as a team, one constant has been Sonny Gray. He won’t win the Cy Young Award in the American League, but he’ll pick up some down-ballot votes. The righty has long been one of MLB‘s better pitchers despite bouncing around.
Gray has been excellent pretty much throughout the season. In his last start against the Blue Jays, though he took the loss, he allowed 2 earned runs and 6 hits over 6 innings.
In 2026, he has a 3.0 bWAR and a 2.79 ERA. He leads the AL with 14 wins and an .824 winning percentage. Over 125.2 frames, he’s allowed 112 hits, 39 earned runs, and 13 homers, walking 33 and striking out 110.
The Red Sox need to get back to their consistent winning ways if they want to catch the Yankees. Hitting has been an issue, with only Willson Contreras, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu showing any production over the long haul. Adley Rutschman is still getting back into the swing of things with a new team and having just come off the injured list.
For the BoSox, the only hitters who have faced Jared Jones in the majors are Contreras and Rutschman. Contreras is 0 for 1 with a walk. Rutschman is 1 for 3 with a K.
Jones Took a Beating From the Mets in His Last Start
Pirates’ righty Jared Jones is one of the hardest throwers in the majors. That didn’t help him against the Mets in his last appearance. He had his worst start of the season allowing 8 earned runs and 6 hits in 3 innings.
Apart from that, he has been quite good this season. But that one start blew his ERA up to 5.04. For the season, he has a 0.4 bWAR. In 59 innings, he’s allowed 52 hits, 32 earned runs, and 10 homers, walking 19 and striking out 65. He missed all of 2025 with Tommy John surgery.
The Pirates are fading from playoff contention. Injuries have been a problem as they are without shortstop Konnor Griffin, center fielder Oneil Cruz, and DH Ryan O’Hearn. Still, they should ahve enough offense with Bryan Reynolds having a fine season with an OPS above .800; Brandon Lowe leading the team in homers with 25 and posting an OPS near .800; an Nick Gonzales batting .309 with an OPS over .760.
Against Gray, Gonzales is 3 for 11 with 2 doubles. Reynolds is 7 for 30 with 2 doubles and 3 home runs. Jared Triolo is 2 for 5 with 2 singles. Lowe is 3 for 12 with a home run. Henry Davis is 0 for 7 with 4 K’s. Spencer Horwitz is 0 for 6.
Red Sox vs Pirates Pick
On paper, this looks like advantage Red Sox. The Pirates have been struggling of late and Jones was awful in his last start. Gray has been particularly good all season for Boston. However, the BoSox have not been playing all that great recently and Jones is a good bet to have a solid rebound start. The Bucs’ batters have handled Gray well in the past.
The Pirates will take this one behind Jones and they will get to Gray for an uncharacteristically poor start for the veteran righty.
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Pick
Pittsburgh Pirates +109
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