Jared Jones didn’t erase the rough patch he’d been carrying into August, but he did give the Pirates something they badly needed on Aug. 15: a start that looked like him again.
The right-hander worked five innings, allowed one run and kept Pittsburgh in position against the Boston Red Sox before the Pirates’ bats went quiet in a 4-0 loss at PNC Park. After two shaky outings earlier in the month, Jones spent this one working through traffic and still finding ways out of trouble.
He opened by slicing through the first inning on 10 pitches, punching out the final two hitters to set the tone. Boston cracked him in the second when right fielder Wilyer Abreu launched a solo homer, and a single by third baseman Caleb Durbin threatened to turn that inning into something bigger. Instead, Jones picked off Durbin at first and struck out left fielder Jarren Duran to keep the damage limited.
The next two innings brought more pressure. Jones found runners in scoring position in both the third and fourth, but each time he escaped cleanly. He struck out center fielder Ceddanne Rafaeala and catcher Adley Rutschman in the third, then in the fourth got Durbin to ground out, fanned Duran again and finished the frame by getting shortstop Andruw Monasetrio to fly out after a 10-pitch battle.
He finished the outing with a much cleaner fifth, using just eight pitches to close on a sharper note.
"Really positive," Jones said on his start. "Thought getting out of those jams in the third and fourth are pretty huge for us as a team and for my personal confidence going into games. I couldn't really ask for much more."
Since his six perfect innings against the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park on July 8, Jones has leaned almost entirely on his four-seam fastball and slider. That mix paid off through July, when he posted a 2.00 ERA across five starts, but August had gone sideways before this one.
He entered the night having allowed 11 earned runs in two starts this month, including a career-high eight runs against the New York Mets on Aug. 9.
Against Boston, Jones mixed in more changeups while still leaning on his fastball and slider, and the pitch gave him a lift in the key spots. He said Pirates catcher Rafael Flores Jr. pushed for it, and Jones trusted the call.
"Flo' clicked the button and I really don't like shaking, so I just said 'Eff it, throw it,' Jones said. "But yeah, got me out of some sticky situations and into some leverage counts when I was behind, so. Really happy with it tonight."
Jones finished with seven strikeouts, his highest total in a month since he had nine against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on July 18. His 85 pitches were also his most this season, topping the 83 he had thrown in two previous starts.
Still under an innings restriction and pitch limit, Jones had little margin left when he took the mound for the fifth with 77 pitches already on the board. He got through it anyway, and he made clear how much that mattered after back-to-back rough starts.
"Yeah, DK told me I had 15 pitches, so getting behind 3-1 to that first batter kind of pissed me off," Jones said. 'Alright, here it is,' you know what I mean? But yeah, being able to get through the five, especially with how things were going, not really efficient, meant a lot for me tonight."
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