Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates connects for his second a two-run homer of the game Thursday night against the Boston Red Sox. Philip G. Pavely/Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — Bryan Reynolds hit two home runs, JT Brubaker pitched seven shutout innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped a six-game losing streak, beating the Boston Red Sox 8-2 Thursday night.

The Pirates avoided a three-game sweep and sent Boston back to one game under .500 at 59-60. The Red Sox had won five of six to move closer to Toronto for the third and final AL wild-card spot.

“We’re not going to win every game,” Boston Manager Alex Cora said. “It’s going to happen. We’re disappointed. We hate losing, but we took two out of three. Now, we have Baltimore, we’ve got Tampa and Toronto, right? Now, you’ve got to win series. To gain ground, these other teams, they’re ahead of us.”

Reynolds hit a pair of two-run homers. He connected in the first inning, and his drive in the fifth was the 3,000th home run at PNC Park since it opened in 2001.

“I didn’t know about it, but it’s pretty crazy just to be a little part of that history,” Reynolds said. “They come in bunches. I guess we’re in a bunch right now. Got some good pitches and, luckily, didn’t miss them.”

Reynolds and Kevin Newman each had three hits and scored three times.

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Brubaker (3-10) allowed two hits, walked none and struck out seven. He gave up a leadoff single in the second to Alex Verdugo, who was caught stealing, and a single to Xander Bogaerts with one out in the seventh.

Reynolds put Pittsburgh ahead 2-0 in the first inning with a drive off Josh Winckowski (5-6) over the wall in right field. After Newman singled in the fifth, Reynolds hit his team-leading 20th home run for a 6-0 lead.

It was the third multi-homer game of Reynolds’ career and second this season. He has four home runs in his last four games.

Winckowski gave up each of Reynolds’ home runs and a double that Ben Gamel sent over a leaping Tommy Pham in left field, scoring Newman and Reynolds with two outs in the third. He got through five innings, allowing six runs on seven hits.

Pham drove in Boston’s first run with an infield single off Zach Thompson in the eighth before Bobby Dalbec scored on a sacrifice fly by Rafael Devers. Manny Bañuelos struck out Verdugo on a 3-2 curveball with the bases loaded to end the inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: Catcher Tyler Heineman had an RBI single in the sixth, extending Pittsburgh’s lead to 8-0, in his first game since being reinstated from the 10-day injured list on Wednesday. He had been out because of right groin discomfort since Aug. 3.

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