CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Guardians opened the second half of the season by dropping two of three games to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Progressive Field after Friday’s series opener was postponed because of poor air quality.

The weather forced the clubs to play a split doubleheader Saturday, where each team claimed a victory before the Pirates captured Sunday’s rubber match to take the series.

Pittsburgh opened the weekend with a 7-1 win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Jared Jones kept Cleveland’s lineup in check, striking out nine over five innings to earn the victory. The Pirates backed him with three home runs, including a two-run blast from Jacob Gonzalez in the third inning, a two-run homer by Esmerlyn Valdez in the sixth and a solo shot from Nick Gonzales.

The Guardians’ lone run came in the third when rookie All-Star Travis Bazzana tripled home a run.

Cleveland answered in dramatic fashion later that evening, rallying for a 5-3 victory to split the doubleheader.

Trailing 3-0 late, the Guardians chipped away before erupting in the ninth inning. Steven Kwan opened the frame with a double, setting the stage for Bazzana, who launched a 414-foot, two-run walk-off home run to right-center field off Dennis Santana. The blast was the first Major League home run of Bazzana’s career and lifted Cleveland to an emotional comeback win.

Cade Smith picked up the victory after retiring the side in the top of the ninth.

The Pirates secured the series Sunday with another convincing 7-1 victory behind ace Paul Skenes.

Skenes struck out eight over seven innings while limiting Cleveland to one run. The Guardians struggled defensively and couldn’t generate much offense against one of baseball’s top pitchers.

Billy Cook led Pittsburgh with three hits and two RBIs, while Valdez continued his strong weekend by adding a two-run homer in the ninth inning to put the game away.

Despite Bazzana’s breakout performance during Saturday’s doubleheader, the Guardians managed just seven runs over the three games as Pittsburgh left Cleveland with the series victory.

The Guardians will start a series at home with the Minnesota Twins.