Pittsburg, PA
Takeaways: Paul Skenes Can’t Even Save Pirates
PHILADELPHIA — The Pittsburgh Pirates concluded their road trip on the east coast and showed that they simply don’t have what it takes to contest with the best in baseball.
The Pirates faced both the New York Mets at Citi Field and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park and both teams shared a similarity: big payrolls.
The Mets have the highest payroll in the MLB at $323,099,999, marked by their record signing of free agent outfielder Juan Soto for $765 million over 15 years. The Phillies aren’t far behind at $284,210,820, the fourth highest in the MLB.
Pittsburgh has a payroll of $87,645,246, the fifth least in the MLB, and it showed on the field.
Both National League East Division Teams have star power and great depth throughout their rosters, which showed last season, as the Mets made the NLCS and the Phillies made the playoffs for the third straight season.
The Pirates haven’t made the playoffs since 2015 and have just one season above .500 since then. There is a lack of winning that extends from previous team and continues to now, due to poor free agent signings, no identity and poor execution during offseasons, drafts, etc.
Philadelphia and New York will both contend for a World Series this season and currently sit 28-18 and 29-17 overall, respectively. (Fill in). They both have done what is necessary to win and have the players and the team culture to achieve that goal.
The Pirates have just 15 wins from 47 games in 2025 and have the third worst record in baseball. They sit 13.0 games behind the Chicago Cubs at the top of the NL Central Division and the San Francisco Giants in the third NL Wild Card spot.
It’s only the middle of May, but the Pirates have lost this season and it’s going to get much worse before it gets better.
The Pirates have fought harder and gone after games better under new manager Don Kelly than prior manager Derek Shelton, but hitting the ball successfully and for runs remains a massive obstacle every single game.
Pittsburgh batted .192, 38-for-197, plus 4-for-38 with runners in scoring position over the six games against the Mets and Phillies. They also struck out 53 times, averaging nearly nine strikeouts per game.
The Pirates had two close losses to the Mets, 4-3 on a walk-off on May 12 and 2-1 on May 13, where they were 1-for-9 and 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, respectively.
They went 1-for-10 in the series against the Phillies with runners in scoring position, which included the 5-2 loss on May 17, where they had no runners in scoring position, with only a Bryan Reynolds two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning as the sole offense in the game.
None of this is much of a surprise for a team that has been terrible all season long from the plate, ranking towards the bottom of most statistics.
The Pirates rank tied for the worst batting average in the MLB at .217, along with the Chicago White Sox and the Colorado Rockies, at .217 and OPS at .619, along with the White Six, and possess the worst slugging percentage at .322. Their .297 on-base percentage is also fifth worst.
Pittsburgh has also not scored more than four runs in a game since a 9-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium on April 23, a 23-game streak. That ties the 2022 Miami Marlins for the longest such streak in a season since at least 1980.
The Pirates offense doing so poorly runined some fantastic performances from the Pirates pitching staff.
Paul Skenes allowed just one run, plus six hits and three walks, while posting six strikeouts over six innings vs. the Mets on May 12 and then just one run, a walk and only three hits, while tying his season-high of nine strikeouts in eight innings against the Phillies on May 18, for his first complete game of his career.
Mitch Keller also excelled in his start vs. the Mets on May 13, where he allowed five hits, two walks and two earned runs and posted a season high eight strikeouts over seven innings.
All three of those games the Pirates have lost and it’s a trend that the team has had this season, with lack of support for great outings from their starting pitching.
They’ve suffered defeat in seven of 10 games that Skenes has pitched in, despite only allowing 17 earned runs, and have lost seven of the nine games that Keller started. The Pirates have scored 24 runs for Keller and 32 runs for Skenes, averaging to 2.7 and 3.2 runs per start, respectively.
Pittsburgh has not supported their two best pitchers and for fans, it’s understandbly a massive source of frustation for a season they expected improvement and growth.
The Pirates got two important players back from injury in their series vs. the Phillies in first baseman Spencer Horwitz and center fielder Oneil Cruz
Horwitz missed all of Spring Training and the entire MLB season up until this past weekend with a right wrist injury. He did two rehab assignments at both Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianpolis prior to his return.
Cruz missed almost a week with lower back pain after an awkward slide attempt against the Atlanta Braves on May 10. He was day-to-day, but is now back in the starting lineup.
Horwitz went 1-for-6 with a strikeout, starting the past two games at first base, while Oneil Cruz went 0-for-9 and struckout eight times, including four in the shutout defeat to end the series.
The Pirates will need patience with both Horwitz and Cruz, who will look to regain form on the field and at the plate going forward.
Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Cincinnati Reds are in a rain delay for the second consecutive day. Saturday’s rain delay came before the game even started. Sunday’s rain delay occurred in the bottom of the 8th inning.
“The tarp is on the field, and we are in a delay here at PNC,” the Pirates official account posted on X. “We’ll update when we have info.”
Update: The grounds crew is taking the tarp off the field and the game is expected to resume around 5:20 ET.
The Pittsburgh Pirates lead the Reds 5-4 in the 8th.
Let’s take a look at how we got there.
Game Recap
In the second inning, Esmerlyn Valdez hit a ground-rule double off Reds starting pitcher Brady Singer that scored Nick Gonzalez, giving the Pirates an early 1-0 lead.
Later in the inning, former Red Tyler Callihan hit his third home run of the year, giving Pittsburgh a 4-0 lead.
However, in the fourth, the Reds would battle back. After Elly De La Cruz reached on an error and Sal Stewart singled, JJ Bleday added a single of his own that would score both, making it a 4-2 Pittsburgh advantage.
The Reds continued to rally in the fifth. After Noelvi Marte walked, Tyler Stephenson stayed hot with an RBI double to left field, getting the Reds back within a run.
Edwin Arroyo followed with an RBI single of his own that tied the game at 4.
The Pirates got a run back in the bottom half of the fifth when Ryan O’Hearn hit his 12th home run of the season. That would be it for Singer, who gave up five runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.
The Pirates had a big opportunity to break the game wide open in the seventh when Zach McCambley walked the bases loaded. Reds manager Terry Francona brought in Brock Burke, who was miraculously able to get out of the jam with a pop-up and an inning-ending double play.
The Reds had a big chance to tie the game in the 8th when they had runners on first and second with nobody out. However, Nathaniel Lowe popped out, Spencer Steer flew out, and Noelvi Marte grounded out to end the threat.
Pierce Johnson was set to come in the game for the Reds when the game entered a rain delay.
We will provide an update as we know more.
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Two people are dead after an early morning crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
According to state police, around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, they were called to a single-vehicle crash near Hempfield Township in Westmoreland County.
A vehicle with two people inside reportedly drove onto an embankment, where it lost control. After losing control, it then hit the overpass, causing it to flip, which trapped the two people inside.
State police said that once fire and rescue crews arrived on the scene, both of the occupants of the vehicle were dead, and the coroner was called to the scene.
The Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office identified the driver as Hunter Fronius of Connellsville and the passenger as Raymond Foster, also of Connellsville.
According to the coroner’s report, the cause of death for both of the deceased was blunt force injuries, and the manner of death was ruled to be accidental.
The coroner’s report also stated that neither of the men in the vehicle was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the crash.
You don’t need to have your eyes checked, you are seeing things right – the Cincinnati Reds have won a second straight game against a National League Central division opponent. The win in a back-and-forth game came down to the 9th inning and down to their last strike the Reds got a 3-run home run from Eugenio Suarez and they held on to beat the Pirates and pick up a series win in Pittsburgh with one game left on Sunday.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (39-42) | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates (41-42) | 7 | 11 | 2 |
| W: Ferguson (1-0) L: Soto (4-2) SV: Petty (1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
After a delayed start due to some rain, the game started about 40 minutes after the originally scheduled time. Cincinnati didn’t take much time to grab a lead. Sal Stewart took the 4th pitch of the game and went the other way for a solo home run. Chase Burns had to work around two singles in the bottom of the inning but he got out of the jam to keep the lead.
Two innings later the Reds offense got back to it when Jose Trevino led off with a ground-rule double and later came in to score on a 2-out hit by Stewart as he picked up his second run batted in on the day. The Pirates put together a rally of their own in the bottom of the frame. Back-to-back singles got things started and then Brandon Lowe came through for the home team with a 3-run home run to put Pittsburgh in the lead. In the 4th inning they would tack on another run on a single by Jared Triolo that made it 4-2.
Cincinnati got back in the game in the 5th with plenty of help from the Pirates. Dane Myers walked and then took second base thanks to a balk. A wild pitch moved him to third base and he would later score on a double by Edwin Arroyo. A second wild pitch in the inning moved him up to third and then he scored when Brandon Lowe failed to come up with a grounder cleanly at second base with two outs and that tied up the game.
The next inning the Reds would take the lead. They would load the bases with one out thanks to a walk and two singles. That set things up for Jose Trevino who came through with a 2-run single that made it 6-4.
At 90 pitches on the day, Chase Burns headed back to the mound for the 7th inning with a lead but he gave up a leadoff double that just missed being a home run off of the top of the wall in right field. That ended his day and manager Terry Francona called on Sam Moll from the bullpen. He would get a groundout, but it moved Jared Triolo up to third base and he then came in to score on a sacrifice fly that made it a 1-run game. Moll then walked Bryan Reynolds and Nick Gonzales, bringing up left-handed hitter Ryan O’Hearn and he came through with a game-tying single into right field. Tejay Antone then entered the game and struck out Marcell Ozuna to end the inning.
Pittsburgh would see a new reliever to start the 8th inning as Caleb Ferguson took over for Antone. He got a line out to begin the inning but then Esmerlyn Valdez took the first pitch he saw and hit it into the seats in right field for a go-ahead solo home run to give Pittsburgh the lead.
Cincinnati entered the top of the 9th down by a run but they got the tying run on base immediately as Edwin Arroyo lined a single into right field. Elly De La Cruz was called out on strikes, but he challenged the call and it was overturned and turned strike three into ball four and the Reds had two men on with no outs. After Sal Stewart grounded into a double play, moving Arroyo to third base, JJ Bleday worked a walk to put runners on the corners for Eugenio Suarez. He came through in the biggest way as he took a 2-2 97 MPH fastball and went the other way for a 3-run home run to put Cincinnati up 9-7.
Now holding a lead the Reds sent Chase Petty to the mound. The first pitch he threw turned into a groundout. It took four pitches to get Bryan Reynolds to pop up for the second out. Petty fell behind the next hitter and wound up walking Nick Gonzalez, bringing Ryan O’Hearn to the plate as the tying run. He pulled a line drive down the line but Spencer Steer was standing right there to catch it and end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
Eugenio Suarez hitting a go-ahead 3-run home run in the top of the 9th inning.
Notes Worth Noting
Cincinnati had just two wins against the NL Central when this series began. They’ve now doubled that and have a chance at a sweep on Sunday.
Sal Stewart, Jose Trevino, and Edwin Arroyo all had 2-hit days.
Eugenio Suarez had been in a big slump, going 1-22 from June 16-23rd. But since then he’s been heating up a bit, going 4-11 with two doubles, a home run, and two walks in the last three games.
Chase Petty picked up his first career save.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Sunday June 28th, 1:35pm ET
Brady Singer (3-6, 4.81 ERA) vs Mitch Keller (5-5, 4.89 ERA)
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