Going into the weekend, the Pittsburgh Pirates had new life. Winners of two straight series, including a pair of miraculous wins against Detroit, the Buccos began their road trip against the defending champion Dodgers in what was undoubtedly the most important series of the season to this point. Sadly, the Pirates left Los Angeles with the same number of wins they came in with.
Game one was eventful. Bubba Chandler took the mound for the Pirates, and he looked electric. He had his typical control stutters, but his fastball was playing at the top of the zone and his stuff looked great. Unfortunately, his line didn’t reflect that. After the Pirates jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a Nick Gonzales single off Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Max Muncy absolutely obliterated a 100 mph fastball from Chandler for a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. Gonzo tied the game in the third on basically the exact same play, driving in Brandon Lowe with another single through the middle after Lowe doubled. The Dodgers immediately answered again, tagging Chandler for two more on a Mookie Betts single.
The bats were quiet for both teams until the seventh inning, when the Pirates managed to get two runners on for Brandon Lowe. Lowe struck out in a big spot, keeping the deficit at two. After Chandler exited, the Pirates’ bullpen was masterful, keeping the Dodgers at four runs. In the eighth inning, lightning struck. Oneil Cruz destroyed a game-tying two-run homer to center field, and suddenly, the Buccos found themselves right back in the game. Luke Weaver and Mason Montgomery were perfect to push the game to extras, and in the top of the tenth, the Pirates found themselves in prime position. No outs, runners on the corners, and Nick Gonzales up against the struggling Evan Phillips. Nicky G unfortunately had a rare strikeout, bringing Oneil Cruz to the plate.
Except he didn’t. Since Henry Davis had pinch-run for Rafael Flores Jr. a couple innings earlier, Dave Roberts intentionally walked the Pirates’ best hitter to bring up Davis with the bases loaded. In unceremonious fashion, the former first overall pick took two fastballs in the zone before grounding into a double play on a sweeper off the plate. Gregory Soto came into the game and got two outs in the bottom of the tenth, but was eventually put in too tough of a situation. Tommy Edman pulled a good sweeper into left field, and the Pirates suffered a heartbreaking Game 1 loss.
Game two felt like it was time to make a stand. After fighting back and coming up short the night before, the Buccos were matched up against maybe the best lefty in the game, Tarik Skubal. Skubal is a terrible matchup for the Bucs, but you never would have known it in the first inning, as the Pirates jumped on him for three runs immediately. The highlight was an Oneil Cruz two-run triple, as Cruz continued to prove exactly why the Bucs missed him so much.
Jared Jones took the mound in the bottom of the inning and looked dominant for a while. Through three, he was unscathed and looked like the version of Jared Jones we saw in July. On the other side of the ball, the Pirates quickly started to feel lucky they got three in the first. The second time through the lineup, Skubal was perfect, striking out seven Pirates and making quick work of the other two. Unable to build a bigger lead, Jones eventually gave in to the Dodgers lineup, allowing two runs in the fourth. Yohan Ramirez came in for the fifth, and the Dodgers got to him too, punctuated by a Kyle Tucker two-run single to snap an 0-for-26 streak at home for the disappointing outfielder.
The Pirates offense never struck again. Skubal went seven innings and struck out 11, while Evan Phillips, Jack Dreyer, and Tanner Scott combined to allow just one baserunner the rest of the way. For the second game in a row, the Pirates’ relievers were fantastic, but it wasn’t enough.
Game three felt like a funeral. The Pirates were able to get to the lefty on Saturday but couldn’t capitalize, and their reward was facing yet another former Cy Young-winning lefty the next day in Blake Snell. To combat him, the Pirates started reliever Lake Bachar, who was set to be followed by Carmen Mlodzinski. Given the pitching matchups, you can probably guess how this one went.
Snell completely dominated, Mlodzinski got roughed up, and the Pirates’ season effectively ended on August 23 in Dodger country with a 4-0 loss. The lone positive was Khristian Curtis, who turned in his second excellent long-relief outing of the season to further solidify his case for a spot in the Bucs’ bullpen going forward. As for the offense, there really isn’t anything to say. They combined for two hits and never seriously threatened.
Series MVP is Oneil Cruz, who has taken no time at all to make his presence in the lineup felt again. He provided basically all of the Pirates’ slugging in this series, with the two-run triple on Saturday and the massive game-tying homer on Friday. Game 1 ended in a loss, but Cruz’s homer was one of the biggest moments of the weekend and another reminder of how different this lineup looks with him in it.
Writing this on Monday, it is a sad day to be a Pirates fan. For the majority of this season, we had hope that our wretched last few decades might finally have led to an exciting season. The first half of August nearly killed that hope, but the Tigers series immediately before this one somehow restored it. Now, it feels gone for good.
The Pirates gave the best team in the league a good fight, but it wasn’t enough, and the Bucs now stand at 63-69. Getting back to .500 is a long shot, and any hopes of something greater are essentially dead. Despite a vastly improved offense and a dominant post-deadline bullpen, the starting rotation let this team down this year, and this series was no different. The Pirates fought hard enough to make you believe they might have one more run in them, but against a team like Los Angeles, close doesn’t count for much.
The Pirates will continue their road trip with a series against the resurgent Padres and Fernando Tatis Jr., who is suddenly playing like an MVP candidate again after a slow first half. Braxton Ashcraft, the lone star of the 2026 Pirates rotation, will get the ball for Game 1 against veteran lefty Robbie Ray in what looks to be a pitchers’ duel.
Lets Go Bucs.
