The Pirates officially take the series win on fan appreciation weekend by the score of 6-5 powered by Brandon Lowe‘s 2-run homer in the 8th inning. The Pirates proved that home runs are superior to small ball as 3 home runs was enough to offset the Royals 13 hits on the evening. Jake Mangum, Ronny Simon, and Brandon Lowe barreled the Bucs towards victory while Mason Montgomery closed the game out in style. The Pirates are now 78-77 and while out of the playoffs, can provide Pittsburgh with its best finish since 2018. Watch DiNardo and I break down the game live from PNC Park:
Bubba Chandler Is Wrapping Up a Disappointing Campaign
I have been preaching patience for the former top 10 prospect, but after watching a full season of Bubba Chandler, there has been a disappointing lack of development. We continue to see very similar starts every 5 days. He shows signs of having electric stuff while also being horribly inefficient and struggling to put guys away. Today was no different, where he was able to escape some hairy situations with timely strikeouts but ultimately got burned. He exits today’s game after 4 innings, 8 hits allowed, 3 earned runs, and 6 strikeouts. His ERA now sits at 4.34, which is about where it has been for months. If Chandler had sprinkled in starts like this with more developments in his game, I think everyone would be satisfied. Watching him struggle to get through 5 innings on a nightly basis for months makes it seem like we’re stuck in a trend. He is only a rookie and can put in a lot of work in the offseason, but we need better from Chandler if this team is going to have a chance in 2027. 89 wins is probably going to be the 6th seed’s total, and 4 ERA Chandler isn’t going to cut it. Development in the offseason is a must.
The Royals Blooped the Pirates to Death
The Royals offense was unlucky to not score more runs tonight, as they BABIP’d the Pirates into 5 runs and over a dozen hits. Besides Carter Jensen‘s home run, the Royals didn’t manage another extra base hit for the entire rest of the game. They didn’t need to, since they managed to reach base pretty much whenever they put a ball in play. Pirates pitchers did a good job to tally double-digit strikeouts, but Kansas City hit a staggering .500 when a ball was put in play. They didn’t have one big inning of runs but instead grinned out runs throughout the game and slowly squeezed the life out of the Bucs. Bubba Chandler wasn’t the only culprit, as Camilo Doval also got tagged up for 4 hits in his inning-long cameo. Generally speaking, if your pitchers strike out a lot of hitters and don’t allow a lot of hard contact, it will be a good day, but the Royals made it agonizing to watch.
Brandon Lowe is a Beautiful, Beautiful Human Being
Give Brandon Lowe whatever he wants, I cannot stomach only having this beautiful man on my team for a single season. Lowe enters Pirates history tonight in multiple ways: he has hit the most home runs at PNC Park in a season, he has hit the most home runs in a seson out of any 2nd baseman in Pirates history, and has been a catalyst for the offense all year. He won the game tonight when things looked bleak and energy was low in the stadium. Unhappy with his 2nd inning at bat where he was inches away from going yard, he left no doubt in the 8th and crushed a ball to left center. The Pirates will not be able to make the playoffs without Lowe on the team next year, and you can’t expect Gonzales and Murf Gray to replace him. Bring him back at all costs.
Comments· 0
No comments yet — be the first to weigh in.