The Pirates one again win when they were faced with the possibility of falling away from .500 as they dismantle the Reds 9-4. The Bucs were powered by 4 home runs and all 9 RBI’s driven in by the 6-7-8 batters in the lineup. It was a rollercoaster of a game, as the Pirates blew a 4-0 lead, committed 2 NOBLETIGERS, and had to endure an hour long rain delay. Watch Doug and I break down the game further here:

Esmerlyn Valdez Continues a Positive Trend

Esmerlyn Valdez went 3-4 today and homered and doubled in today’s contest. He capped off his day with his moonshot in the 8th inning that went over 460 feet. The Magician has come up to the Majors and is making it very hard for the Pirates to send him back down. His OPS has eclipsed 1.000, and his wRC+ sits at a pretty 167. The one concerning thing about Esmerlyn so far has been his strikeout rate, but his raw power and defensive skill will ensure he has a career in some capacity at the MLB level. It may be just as a platoon bat, but even that would be useful for the Pirates. Valdez being good is also continuing the trend of players coming up from AAA and succeeding straight from the jump. In years past, our prospects would come up and immediately get blasted down to the minors because they couldn’t hack it at the MLB level. In 2026, we’ve seen guys like Valdez, Endy, Griffin, and Callihan have all been major contributors to the team’s success this year. We must pray that this trend continues because we need these success stories as a small market team that won’t spend.

Most Frustrating 9 Runs Scored Ever?

If you simply looked at the box score, you would assume this was an amazing offensive day for the Pirates. They hit 4 home runs, hit .400 with RISP, and almost scored double digits. In many ways it was a good day, but if you asked any fan who was watching how they felt during the 7th inning, the story would’ve been much different. The Pirates loaded the bases 3 separate times, 2 of those with 0 outs. The offense managed to score 0 runs in that situation. The team is still one of the best teams in the league in terms of OPS and runs scored, and yet they are hilariously not clutch. Luckily, the team hit 4 home runs and made this completely irrelevant, but this has been a trend with the team that has cost the Pirates some key wins. It’s a small part, but still a part of why this team has struggled to break away from being .500 for months.

Defense Continues to Cost the Pirates

The Pirates are the league leaders in unearned runs allowed. Mitch Keller struggled today, but he was only charged with 3 of the 4 runs he surrendered. The runs began with a throwing error from Brandon Lowe (who has been quite good at 2nd year). The pitching has been far worse than advertised, but the defense has been atrocious all season and is making the problem worse. Before that error, Keller had retired 7 straight Reds and had only allowed one base runner all game. Errors have been backbreakers all season long, and there is not a single pitcher on this team that hasn’t felt the effects of bad defense. I fully supported going for offense over defense, but a priority at the deadline should be getting some bench players in who can help alleviate these defensive missteps that cost the Pirates games.