You can stop me if you have heard this before, but the Pirates entered their homestand with one more opportunity to creep back into the National League Wild Card race. Pittsburgh sat six games back of the final playoff spot heading into a six-game stretch against two of the worst teams in the league, giving them a massive opportunity to finally put together the type of hot streak they have been searching for all season. With time running out and only a few weeks remaining on the schedule, this really felt like their last chance to make a push.
It is difficult to demand two sweeps, but taking five of six games on this homestand felt like the minimum needed if the Pirates wanted to make up any significant ground. They started that stretch against the San Francisco Giants, and Game 1 immediately turned into one of the wildest games of the season.
With Logan Webb and Paul Skenes on the mound, most would have expected a low-scoring pitcher's duel between two talented starters. Instead, both offenses came out swinging, and the game quickly turned into an absolute rollercoaster.
Webb gave up two runs in the first inning on RBI singles from Nick Gonzales and Oneil Cruz, giving Skenes an early cushion. Unfortunately, the Pirates ace could not hold onto it for long. His control appeared to be off from the beginning, and he looked much more like the version of Skenes we have seen for most of this season rather than the dominant ace we saw in his last start.
Skenes allowed five runs in the second inning, with plenty of damage coming from the bottom of the Giants’ lineup. Then, Rafael Devers delivered the biggest blow with a three-run homer that suddenly gave San Francisco a 5-2 lead.
It was only the second inning, but after the Giants' five-run frame, it felt like another frustrating night was brewing for the Pirates. Fortunately, nobody told the Pirates offense that the game was over.
The Bucs responded with one of their biggest innings of the entire season, putting up nine runs in the bottom half of the third to take an 11-5 lead. Usually, a nine-run inning comes with a few big home runs, but Pittsburgh managed to single the Giants to death. Bryan Reynolds, Nick Gonzales, Oneil Cruz, and Esmerlyn Valdez opened the inning with four straight singles, bringing two runs across. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks from Jacob Gonzalez and Jared Triolo brought in two more before Henry Davis and Spencer Horwitz delivered huge two-run singles to make it 9-5.
Brandon Lowe followed with another single, Gonzales came up for a second time and was hit by a pitch, and Cruz capped off the ridiculous inning with his third RBI of the frame on a two-run single. Just like that, the Pirates had scored nine runs in one inning and led 11-5.
Skenes was able to work into the fifth inning but could not finish it, leaving himself without a chance to earn the win. His night ended with a line of 4.2 innings, eight hits, five earned runs, three walks, and four strikeouts. It was not the follow-up performance the Pirates were hoping to see after his encouraging outing against San Diego.
Thankfully, the offense kept rolling. In the seventh inning, Brandon Lowe launched his 29th home run of the season, extending the lead to 12-7 and seemingly giving the Pirates more than enough breathing room to close things out.
You would think that would be enough, especially considering how well the bullpen has pitched lately. It wasn't.
Evan Sisk and Luke Weaver struggled to get outs in the eighth inning, and a combination of walks, sloppy pitching, and poor execution allowed the Giants to put together an absolutely stunning rally. Before the inning was over, San Francisco had scored five runs and tied the game at 12.
There have been plenty of crushing collapses throughout this season, but failing to win a game after leading 12-7 entering the eighth inning would have felt like perhaps the biggest gut punch of them all.
Fortunately, the Pirates were able to make enough plays defensively to put themselves in position for a walk-off in the ninth. Lowe led off the inning with a hit and eventually found himself standing on third base with two outs. Rafael Flores Jr. then lined a ball hard toward third base, and after the Giants' third baseman made a nice play to get to it, his throw to first was short-armed and got past Devers. Lowe came around to score, and the Pirates escaped with a 13-12 victory.
It certainly wasn't the cleanest win of the season, but considering how badly things had gone in the eighth inning, a win was a win.
With the way things shook out around them, the Pirates also had a chance to move to just 4.5 games back with another victory in Game 2. As has been the story far too often this season, Pittsburgh failed to capitalize.
Bubba Chandler pitched fairly well after giving up a solo homer to Devers in the first inning. He looked to be in position to get through five innings with only one run allowed, but another defensive miscue ended up changing the complexion of his outing. Cruz and Valdez both lost a ball in the lights, allowing two more runs to eventually come across. Chandler finished with five innings, five hits, three earned runs, three walks, and four strikeouts.
The offense was much quieter compared to the previous night, but the Bucs were able to manufacture their way back into the game. Valdez drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth, and Horwitz brought another run home on a groundout in the seventh. Oneil Cruz then tied the game with an RBI infield single, bringing Pittsburgh all the way back despite never really producing the big hit they needed.
The Pirates had chances to win it in the ninth, too. Jacob Gonzalez appeared to have a walk-off home run, but the ball came up a couple of feet short and he had to settle for a double. Later in the inning, Bryan Reynolds came to the plate with runners at the corners and two outs, but a sliding catch in left field robbed him of a potential game-winning hit. Both plays felt like they could have been the moment that won the game for Pittsburgh, but neither one went their way.
The Giants eventually broke through for two runs in the top half of the tenth, and while the Pirates were able to bring one run across in their half of the inning, they could not finish the comeback. San Francisco took Game 2 by a 5-4 final and once again put the pressure on Pittsburgh to win the rubber match.
With another must-win game on the schedule, the Pirates turned to a bullpen game in the finale, and this time the strategy worked beautifully. Lake Bachar, Brandon Eisert, and Khristian Curtis combined to get Pittsburgh through the first six innings without allowing a run. Curtis got himself into some trouble in the seventh, but Yohan Ramirez came in and put out the fire, limiting the Giants to just two runs.
Luke Weaver and Mason Montgomery then took care of the final two innings, giving the Pirates a huge performance from their pitching staff when they needed it most.
After manufacturing plenty of runs in a losing effort the night before, Pittsburgh used that same recipe to take the rubber match. The Pirates scored twice in the first inning after Cruz walked and Jake Mangum was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
They added another run in the sixth when Cruz walked, stole second, and eventually came around to score after Mangum laid down a bunt that resulted in an errant throw to first. Jared Triolo added another run later in the inning with an RBI groundout, giving the Bucs a 4-0 lead without recording a single big hit. Triolo came through again in the eighth, this time with a sacrifice fly to bring home another insurance run and make it a 5-2 game.
That was all Montgomery needed. Monty shut the Giants down in order in the ninth, securing the victory and giving the Pirates their third consecutive series win.
Final Thoughts
Taking two of three from the Giants is another positive step for a Pirates team that has spent most of the season struggling to put together any sort of sustained momentum. It certainly was not perfect, and blowing a 12-7 lead in the opener before eventually winning in walk-off fashion was about as Pirates as it gets, but they found a way to win that game and then came back with a strong bullpen performance to take the series in the finale.
The biggest takeaway from this series is that the Pirates are still alive, but they continue to make things much harder on themselves than they need to be. The offense has shown flashes of being able to carry this team, and the bullpen has quietly become one of the more reliable parts of the roster, but the starting pitching and defense continue to create unnecessary problems. When you are trying to make up ground in September, you simply cannot afford to give away outs, runs, and opportunities the way the Pirates have at times this season.
Still, three straight series wins is nothing to scoff at. The Pirates are now just five games back of the final Wild Card spot, and while that is still a significant deficit with limited games remaining, it is at least close enough to make things interesting. They finally have some momentum behind them, and now they need to find a way to keep it going.
The Angels are next, and this is another series where Pittsburgh needs to take care of business. If they can continue stacking series wins, this season might have a little more life left in it than we thought just a few weeks ago. If they stumble again, however, that five-game deficit could grow very quickly.
Next up for the Pirates is a three-game series against the Angels beginning Friday night. Jared Jones is scheduled to face Ryan Johnson with first pitch set for 6:40 PM.
