Payton Tolle gazes upward as he leaves the mound during Friday night's Red Sox-Pirates game at Fenway Park. (AP photo)

BOSTON (AP) — Paul Skenes pitched six strong innings, and Tommy Pham and Andrew McCutchen hit back-to-back doubles after the Pirates chased Red Sox phenom Payton Tolle in his major league debut, rallying Pittsburgh to a 4-2 victory on Friday night.

Skenes (9-9) allowed one earned run on seven hits and a walk, striking out six in six innings. Dennis Santana pitched the ninth to earn his 11th save and give the last-place Pirates their seventh win in nine games.

Called up earlier in the day when World Series clincher Walker Buehler was released, Tolle had a one-hitter through five innings and was lifted after allowing back-to-back singles with one out in the sixth. After shaking hands with manager Alex Cora on the mound, Tolle walked off to a standing ovation, looking to the sky as he left the field.

Pham followed with a line drive off Greg Weissert (6-5) over the center fielder’s head, tying the game 2-all and depriving Tolle of the victory. McCutchen, who had three hits in the game, then doubled to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead.

Romy Gonzalez had three hits for Boston and Roman Anthony had two, including a solo homer. The Red Sox had won four in a row and seven of their last eight.

Key moment

Boston scored an unearned run to break a scoreless tie in the fourth when Skenes couldn’t get to Ceddanne Rafaela’s nubber and third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa threw it wide of first for an error. Masataka Yoshida came around to score from second.

Key stat

Tolle was the first Red Sox pitcher to strike out eight or more batters in his major league debut since Daisuke Matsuzaka fanned 10 in 2007.

Buehler Released Outright

Buehler, who got the final out in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series victory last season and was expected to be a key member of the Boston rotation this year, was released on Friday after the Red Sox concluded he couldn’t help their playoff push from the bullpen.

Buehler, 31, has struggled since signing a $21.05 million contract with Boston, going 7-7 with a 5.45 ERA. He made 22 starts before he was demoted to the bullpen last week; in his only relief appearance since earning a save in Game 5 of the Series, he allowed two runs in 2 1/3 innings of a loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday.

“It’s tough, but this is where we’re at,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before Friday night’s loss to the Pirates. “I know it didn’t go his way, or our way. He expected more, and we expected more. … I still think he has stuff in the tank.”

A two-time All Star and two-time World Series champion, Buehler is 54-29 in 144 starts over eight major league seasons. He struggled last year coming off a second Tommy John surgery but pitched perfect ninth in the Series clincher two days after pitching five shutout innings as the starter in Game 3.

Because the Red Sox released him rather than designating him for assignment, he is eligible to sign with any other team immediately.

“This is a guy who’s been a really good starting pitcher in this league for a long time,” Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow said. “He’s struggled to stay on the field with injuries, but we felt like he could give a boost to our rotation. When it became clear that there would be a better opportunity for him to contribute from the ‘pen, we made that move.”

To fill Buehler’s spot on the roster, the Red Sox called up top pitching prospect Payton Tolle to make his major league debut against Pirates ace Paul Skenes.

“We have to make sure we are thinking about best-positioning this group to win as many games down the stretch here,” Breslow said.