Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong, left, holds out his right index finger as a member of the staff, catcher Francisco Cervelli and umpire Fieldin Culbreth, right, watch in the second inning of an interleague spring training baseball game, Monday, March 14, 2016, in Fort Myers, Fla. Vogelsong was hit in the hand by a ground-out off the bat of Boston Red Sox's Hanley Ramirez but continued playing in the game.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Pablo Sandoval hit his first home run of the spring and Dustin Pedroia had two hits for the Red Sox on Monday in Boston’s 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates sent eight batters to the plate in the sixth inning, scoring three runs off left-hander Brian Johnson, who left the game with a sprained left big toe.

Pittsburgh right-hander Ryan Vogelsong went four innings, giving up one run on four hits with no walks and two strikeouts. The only run he allowed was Sandoval’s homer with one out in the second.

“Pablo got me there. I’ve seen him hit that ball plenty of times,” said Vogelsong, who was teammates with Sandoval in San Francisco. “He probably knew I was going up there. I knew I was going up there. It was just a matter of if I was going to get it by him or not.”

In his third spring start, Red Sox right-hander Joe Kelly went four scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk with three strikeouts and a hit batter.

For Vogelsong, who is expected to be the Pirates’ fifth starter, it was his third spring outing. He gave up three runs in three innings to the Red Sox in his previous outing.

“I commanded all of my pitches today. I was much sharper than I was the other day and kept my pitch count where it needed to be,” Vogelsong said. “It’s all about repeating my delivery.”