Tribe bounced by Red Sox 6-2; Pirates topple Reds 3-1

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON — Daisuke Matsuzaka tuned up for the postseason with his fourth straight strong performance and the Boston Red Sox sent the Cleveland Indians to a club-record 13th straight road loss with a 6-2 win Friday night.

Matsuzaka (4-6) allowed two earned runs on five hits in six innings, continuing his surge that began when he pitched on Sept. 15 after nearly three months on the disabled list. He struck out seven and walked three.

He was 1-5 when he was sidelined with a minor right shoulder strain and 3-1 since then. His ERA in those four starts is 2.22, lowering his season mark from 8.23 to 5.76.

Jeremy Sowers (6-11) left after three innings trailing 4-0. The Indians scored twice in the fifth but broke the club record for consecutive road losses set in 1963 and tied in 1991.

Victory Martinez hit in his 28th straight start and is batting .358 in that stretch. He broke a tie with Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki for the most consecutive starts with at least one hit in the AL this year.

Pirates 3, Reds 1

CINCINNATI — Rookie Daniel McCutchen pitched into the seventh inning for his first major league win and Lastings Milledge homered, leading Pittsburgh.

Andy LaRoche drove in two runs despite twice being thrown out trying to stretch singles into doubles.

McCutchen (1-2) made his major league debut with a no-decision at Cincinnati on Aug. 31, and had been winless in five starts for Pittsburgh. He held the Reds scoreless until Wladimir Balentien’s 467-foot home run.

McCutchen allowed four hits, walked two and struck out five. Jesse Chavez finished the seventh, Joel Hanrahan pitched a perfect eighth and Matt Capps closed for his 27th save.

Justin Lehr (5-3), starting in place of blister-plagued lefty Matt Maloney, allowed three runs and four hits in six innings.

Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead in the third on McCutchen’s leadoff walk, Andrew McCutchen’s double and LaRoche’s two-run single into the left-field corner. LaRoche was nailed by Balentien at second on the play — right fielder Jay Bruce threw out LaRoche to end the eighth inning.

Milledge led off the fourth with his fourth homer of the season, and third against the Reds.

The Reds had gone 20 consecutive scoreless innings before Balentien homered.