PITTSBURGH — As Esmerlyn Valdez trotted into second base with a two-run double, he looked over to the Pirates’ dugout and saw no one was hoisting a cone.

“Come on,” he seemed to shout toward the dugout. It was a celebration he needed to see.

Valdez’s much-needed double, his first extra-base hit in August, helped the Pirates to a much-needed, 8-4 win against the Boston Red Sox on Friday night at PNC Park.

Rafael Flores hit a solo homer and added an RBI single, while Brandon Lowe put the game out of reach with a three-run homer in the fifth inning.

The Pirates scored four runs in four innings against Red Sox lefty Jake Bennett. The Pirates had lost eight of their past nine games against a left-handed starter.

They struggled early against Bennett. He retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, including four strikeouts, but Flores provided the exception with an opposite-field shot in the second inning. The homer, Flores’ third in his last three at-bats, was the first Bennett had allowed on his change-up all season.

But the Pirates broke through in the fourth, plating three and making Bennett throw 37 pitches. Ronny Simon started it with a single, Bryan Reynolds hit a ground-rule double, then Valdez plated both with his double down the left-field line. He scored on Flores’ one-out single.

Pirates starter Bubba Chandler cruised through the first four innings before struggling some with his command in the fifth. But Lowe quickly got the runs back with his blast, his 21st all-time against the Red Sox.

With the win, the Pirates have won consecutive games for the first time since July 26-27.

Camilo Doval made it through a shaky seventh inning. He walked one and allowed two hits, including an Eric Sogard RBI single, but a would-be Adley Rutschman three-run homer came up a few feet short to end the inning. Doval had fallen behind 3-0 on Rutschman, but left with a 7-3 lead intact.

Chandler was dominant through the first three innings, allowing just an infield single, before his first jam in the fourth.

With two outs, Willson Contreras reached on a soft-hit infield single. Wilyer Abreu doubled to the right-center field gap, and with Chandler cruising, the Red Sox waved Contreras around third. But the Pirates pulled off an excellent relay from Jake Mangum to Jared Triolo to Henry Davis, with Davis picking the ball and putting down the tag on Contreras.

Chandler was burned on two leadoff walks in the fifth, his lone two walks of the night, but otherwise skirted damage.

Gregory Soto, Doval, Luke Weaver, Kirby Yates and Mason Montgomery finished the game. It was just Weaver’s second appearance as a Pirate.

Yates allowed a run on three two-out singles in the ninth, which forced Kelly to turn to Montgomery. Montgomery, entering to a closer’s lightshow for the first time, struck out Rutschman to end the game.

At the plate

The Pirates got their hits when they needed them, scoring eight runs on nine hits and stranding just three runners.

Reynolds went 2 for 4, adding a single, and scored three runs.

— Before the game, the Pirates placed right-hander Yohan Ramirez on the paternity list, optioned outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia to Triple-A Indianapolis and recalled right-hander Wilber Dotel and outfielder Billy Cook. Ramirez is eligible to miss between one and three games.

Garcia, acquired from the Red Sox in December, is batting .167 this year. He went 1 for 13 in his second stint with the Pirates.

— Oneil Cruz continued his rehab at Double-A Altoona, playing a third game with the Curve and fifth game overall on his rehab assignment. Cruz played all nine innings in center field and went 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

— Nick Gonzales left the game in the fifth inning when he was hit in the helmet by a Jovani Moran fastball. Gonzales spoke at length with Don Kelly and trainer Tyler Brooks, but left the game. The Pirates said he was being evaluated for a facial contusion.

Game 2 of their series will be nationally televised on Fox, so it will start at 7:15 p.m. instead of the typical 6:40 p.m. It will feature Jared Jones (2-4, 5.03 ERA) against Red Sox right-hander Sonny Gray (14-3, 2.79).