BOSTON — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 10-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Fenway Park:

1) Every one of his starts seems to be a referendum on Dustin May, who has alternated between good and bad outings since coming over from the Dodgers at the trade deadline. Saturday represented a poor one. May worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first while allowing only one unearned run. He wasn’t nearly so fortunate in the fifth when the Pirates filled the bases again, also with no out, and scored three times. A solo homer from Oneil Cruz in the sixth added to the Pittsburgh lead.

2) Suddenly, the Red Sox are having trouble scoring runs and have fallen into some old habits when it comes to runners in scoring position. In the last 13 games, the Red Sox have scored more than three runs just four times. And it’s not as if they’re not getting opportunities. In the two games with the Pirates to date, they’re just 3-for-15.

3) What happened to dominance at Fenway? The Red Sox have now lost five straight at home after a period that saw them maul opponents. At one point, they were 14-1 over a stretch of 15 home games beginning in July and going into early August. But they’ve picked a bad time to go cold at Fenway, and the worst thing is, they’ve slumped against bad teams – each one of their last five defeats at home have come against teams with losing records.

4) The afternoon featured a rough outing for lefty reliever Brennan Bernardino, who, as Alex Cora noted pre-game, has been very dependable this season. But not Saturday. Bernardino faced six batters and retired only two — one a ball to the warning track in deepest center field — and allowed two inherited runs to score plus two of his own.

5) The Red Sox got a solo homer from Carlos Narvaez, who has cooled off at the plate in the second half. A solo shot in the third, it was just his third homer at Fenway since May 21. It was also the only long ball the Sox hit all day.

6) You have to wonder how long the leash is for Masataka Yoshida. The Red Sox’ DH had a (charitably-ruled) single in four trips to the plate and sports an OPS of just .629. He’s providing very little power (two homers) and isn’t getting on base (.290 OBP). And he’s certainly not an asset on the bases. Almost exclusively a DH, what value is he providing? When Wilyer Abreu comes off the IL later in the week, the Sox would be wise to rotate their four outfielders through the DH spot. That will improve production and keep them fresh.

7) For the time being, the Red Sox seem a man short in the bullpen, with no one available to give them much length. Of course, that wouldn’t be an issue if their starters were more regularly going deeper into games.

8) The Red Sox and Pirates will conclude the three-game interleague series Sunday afternoon at 1:35. The pitching matchup will feature RHP Lucas Giolito (9-2, 3.47) vs. RHP Mitch Keller (6-12, 3.45).