CLEVELAND (Interstat) — Paul Skenes pitched six strong innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates broke open a tie game with a three-run sixth inning, defeating the Cleveland Guardians 7-1 on Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field.

The Pirates took the series two games to one, improving to 52-48, same as Cleveland. Skenes won his ninth game against eight losses, allowing one run on seven hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. Joey Cantillo took the loss, dropping to 8-5 after allowing four runs on seven hits over five innings, striking out seven.

Pittsburgh struck first in the second inning. Nick Gonzales led off with a double, the first of his two doubles on the day. After two outs, Billy Cook singled to right field to drive in Gonzales, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Jake Mangum followed with a single, but Jared Triolo struck out to end the inning.

Cleveland answered in the third. Gabriel Arias singled to right field, then Patrick Bailey struck out. Petey Halpin singled to left, moving Arias to third. Steven Kwan then laid down a soft bunt that first baseman Ryan O’Hearn fielded, but catcher Henry Davis missed the catch, allowing Arias to score and Halpin to reach third. The play was ruled a single with an error, tying the game 1-1. With two outs, Travis Bazzana struck out, and Kwan was caught stealing second to end the threat.

The score remained tied until the fifth. Billy Cook led off with a triple to right field, upheld after a replay review. Mangum struck out, then Triolo singled to left, but Cook had already scored on the triple, giving Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. A forceout and a groundout ended the inning.

The pivotal moment came in the sixth. Nick Gonzales doubled to left field, his second double of the game. Jacob Gonzalez then doubled to right, scoring Gonzales to make it 3-1. After Henry Davis struck out, Billy Cook singled sharply to center, driving in Gonzalez for a 4-1 lead. Mangum followed with another single to center, scoring Cook and pushing the lead to 5-1. Triolo walked, but Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez struck out to end the inning.

Cleveland threatened in the bottom of the sixth when Chase DeLauter doubled, but Brayan Rocchio struck out, and the Guardians did not score. The Pirates added two insurance runs in the ninth. With one out, Valdez hit a 12th home run of the season to left field, scoring Triolo who had singled earlier, making it 7-1.

Cleveland managed only one more hit after the third inning, a double by Kahlil Watson in the seventh. Skenes worked around that and left after the sixth. The Pirates bullpen closed out the game with three scoreless innings.

For Pittsburgh, Billy Cook went 3 for 4 with a triple, two singles, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. Nick Gonzales had two doubles and scored twice. Jake Mangum had two hits and an RBI. Jacob Gonzalez doubled and drove in a run. Jared Triolo walked twice, singled, and scored twice.

For Cleveland, Gabriel Arias was 1 for 2 with a single and a walk. Kahlil Watson was 1 for 3 with a double. Chase DeLauter was 1 for 3 with a double. Petey Halpin, Brayan Rocchio, and Steven Kwan each had one hit. Kwan also drove in a run on a bunt single.

The game took 2 hours, 40 minutes, with an announced attendance of 31,973.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Pittsburgh 6, Cleveland 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Cleveland a 54.00 percent probability to win. Pittsburgh entered as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of eight runs went over the over-under of 7.5.