The Pirates entered the final homestand of the 2026 season on Roberto Clemente Day to face the best team in baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers. While they had made things interesting a few times in recent weeks, the combination of a series loss to the Cubs and teams like the Padres, Phillies, and Diamondbacks winning games around them all but ended the hopes of a trip to the postseason. While still not mathematically eliminated, it would take more than a miracle for them to make the playoffs. That said, a nine-game homestand before one final road series gives the Pirates a chance to end the season on a good note.
The first two games of this series truly showed the differences between the Brewers and the Pirates. Milwaukee does all the little things right, capitalizes on any small mishap, and rarely provides any mishaps of their own doing. The Pirates have shown flashes of great baseball this season, but ultimately what has led to their demise has been the inability to put it all together over a significant period of time.
In a microcosm of that, the Pirates had a chance to tie the Brewers at 1 in the fourth inning of the opening game, but failed to do so because of some ugly baserunning and coaching. A misread by Tony Beasley and a mixed-up Nick Gonzales on a ball that deflected past the shortstop and into shallow left center field led to no runs being scored, Ryan O’Hearn being tagged out in no man’s land, and many boos from the home crowd.
With Gonzales at second and O’Hearn at first, Rafael Flores lined a ball hard off the shortstop that should have been an RBI single. Instead, Beasley held Gonzales initially before waving him, Gonzales turned to find the ball and hesitated as he got to third base and put the brakes on, all while O’Hearn was halfway over to third base and stuck in a pickle. The play resulted in an out, and the Pirates would end up not scoring in the inning.
From there, the Brewers took advantage of the momentum and put the game away. They tacked on four extra runs, and the game wasn’t really competitive the rest of the way.
The lone bright spot in the opener, and many times this season, was Brandon Lowe. He crushed his 30th home run of the season for the Bucs, becoming the first Pirate to do so since Josh Bell in 2019. Lowe has been an absolute monster for the Pirates in what could be his lone season with the club, and he will surely be missed if this is his final homestand at PNC Park.
The Pirates would lose the opening game of the series by a score of 5-1. Lake Bachar was charged with the loss, and Jacob Misiorowski picked up his 15th win of the season for the Brewers.
Game 2 for the Pirates was much more competitive, but it had the same heartbreaking script as a multitude of games this season. Trailing 3-1, the Bucs bats came alive to rally against the Brew Crew. Lowe tied the game with a two-run blast in the fifth inning, because what else would he do? It’s unfortunate that the game-tying blast did not have as much meaning behind it as it could have, but it was a majestic blast nonetheless.
Flores got in on the home run parade in the sixth, as he went the other way for a solo shot to give the Pirates a 4-3 lead.
Unfortunately, the fun didn’t last long as Carmen Mlodzinski gave up the lead in the seventh. A pair of walks and a single from Christian Yelich put the Brewers back in front 5-4, and that score would hold final. The Brewers took Game 2 and were in position to sweep. They also clinched the NL Central crown for the 2026 season and celebrated accordingly at PNC Park.
With another bullpen game looming and lefty starter Kyle Harrison pitching for the Brewers, a sweep looked imminent. However, the Bucs were able to stop the bleeding in Game 3.
After the Brewers scored a run in the top half of the second inning, the Bucs answered back in the bottom half with a five-spot. They rallied after two quick outs to start the inning. Ronny Simon worked a walk, Jared Triolo reached on an infield single, Henry Davis reached due to catcher’s interference, and the Young Buc Konnor Griffin came through with a big hit.
Griffin roped a two-run double to give the Bucs a 2-1 lead. Oneil Cruz followed that up with a single the opposite way to score two more, and Lowe was later hit by a pitch to bring in another run and make it 5-1 Pirates.
The offense would almost disappear after that big inning, which allowed the Brewers to scratch and claw their way back into the game, like they have done all season. This time, however, the Pirates stomped out the rally.
Leading by just one run at 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth, Henry Davis crushed a two-run homer off the rotunda in left field to extend the lead to 7-4. This Hank Tank was an absolute laser.
Mason Montgomery, who put the rally to rest in the eighth, shut things down in order in the ninth to secure the win for the Pirates.
Pittsburgh was able to avoid the sweep to start the final homestand, and they now sit at a game under .500 at 76-77. It would be nice to see them rally in these final nine games to finish the season with a winning record.
Final Thoughts
There is not much left to play for in terms of the postseason, but that does not mean these final nine games are meaningless. The Pirates have a chance to finish the season on a strong note, and after a year that has featured plenty of ups and downs, putting together a strong finish would at least give the team something positive to carry into the offseason.
The biggest takeaway from this series is once again the difference between a team that consistently does the little things right and a team that has struggled to put everything together. The Brewers have been able to capitalize on mistakes throughout the season, while the Pirates have too often made mistakes that have cost them games. Game 1 was a perfect example of that, with the baserunning and coaching mistake in the fourth inning completely taking a potential big inning off the board.
At the same time, there were some positives to take away. Brandon Lowe continues to be one of the most productive players on this roster, Oneil Cruz continues to make an impact since returning from the IL, and Konnor Griffin keeps showing why there is so much excitement surrounding his future. Henry Davis also came through with a huge homer in Game 3 to make sure the Pirates did not let another late lead slip away.
The Bucs are now 76-77 with nine games left to play. A winning record is still within reach, and after everything this team has gone through this season, it would be nice to see them finish above .500.
Next up, the Pirates welcome the Kansas City Royals to PNC Park for a three-game series. Paul Skenes is scheduled to take the mound against Randy Dobnak on Friday night, with first pitch set for 6:40 PM.
Nine games left. Let’s see what these Bucs have left in the tank.
