Esmerlyn Valdez and Jacob Gonzalez both hit two-run homers and Nick Gonzales had a solo shot, all off Gavin Williams, as the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-1 in the opener of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday.
Gonzalez belted a 428-foot homer onto the concourse in right field in the second inning, plating Tyler Callihan to open the scoring. Valdez and Gonzales each went deep in the sixth, upping the lead to 5-1 in sending the Pirates to their fourth consecutive victory.
The Guardians, who had won four straight, fell one game behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the American League Central.
Pittsburgh starter Jared Jones (2-1) struck out a season-high nine over five innings, giving up one run on three hits with one walk. The right-hander threw 74 pitches, remaining on a limited workload following reconstructive elbow surgery.
Jones retired the first eight batters before Steven Kwan singled in the third, snapping his streak of 30 consecutive outs that began on July 2 at the Philadelphia Phillies. Jones then worked six perfect innings on July 8 against the Atlanta Braves.
After the Guardians pulled within 2-1 on Travis Bazzana’s RBI triple in the third, Valdez brought home Bryan Reynolds in the sixth with his 11th homer in 29 games in the majors. The rookie outfielder has driven in 17 runs in July, giving him 29 on the season.
Williams (10-5) tied his career high by allowing three home runs in six innings, while matching his season best with 11 strikeouts. He gave up five runs on six hits without a walk in his fifth double-digit strikeout performance of 2026.
Pittsburgh tacked on two runs in the eighth against Matt Festa on a Ryan O’Hearn sacrifice fly and a wild pitch that scored Brandon Lowe. Reynolds had two hits and two runs.
Carmen Mlodzinski followed Jones with three scoreless innings and Isaac Mattson worked the ninth. The Pirates moved within one game of the third and final National League wild-card berth.
The Friday series opener was postponed due to poor air quality in Northeast Ohio, caused by drifting smoke from the Canadian forest fires. Light rain overnight cleared most of it from the skies before the teams arrived at the ballpark on Saturday morning.
–Field Level Media
