The Pirates bounced back from a 10-4 drubbing on Wednesday night to winning very comfortably 7-2 this afternoon. The Pirates secure yet another series win off the back of a big day from Ryan O’Hearn, who went 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. The Pirates continue to show true mental fortitude and character by not succumbing to major losing streaks and stay in the thick of the wild card chase. The Pirates will now face the Phillies at home for a big three-game series against their interstate rivals. Cody and Doug recapped this game on the NS9 Postgame Show powered by Primanti’s Bros which you can watch/listen to here:
Here’s my 3 takeaways from the win…
My Kingdom for Mason Montgomery
There has been a lot of talk about the Pirates bullpen struggles recently, and rightfully so; it has been the biggest problem for this team. Which makes it extremely confusing that we, on May 14th, have only seen Mason Montgomery pitch 3 times this month. Mason was excellent in his outing today, opening up the game with an easy 1st inning by striking out 3 batters. With the middle of the bullpen being so rocky this season, there is little justification in my eyes to not have him pitching far more often than he is. I am so happy he has gotten his command under control because he has some of the nastiest stuff in all of baseball, and it’s immensely fun to watch. He deserves more high-leverage situations, but he also deserves the ability to try and bridge those 6th and 7th inning gaps when the backend of the pen is feeling gassed.
Endy Rodriguez Arrival?
It’s hard to remember, but Endy Rodriguez used to be a top-20 prospect in baseball before injuries derailed his time in the majors. Going into 2026, there wasn’t a fan to be found who thought he would be a major contributor to the Pirates major league team. He had quite a hill to climb, as Henry Davis and Joey Bart were established MLB players and Rafael Flores was acquired for David Bednar. He has taken being fourth in the pecking order in stride and earned a trip up to the majors with Bart heading to the injured list. Endy took this chance and shone like a star, having a massive game going 2-for-3 with a double, 2 RBIs and a walk added on top. He looked fantastic at the plate today, and even though it was the Rockies, he has shown more promise than Joey Bart has all season. It’s a long season, and injuries are bound to happen. Having Endy as a depth bat who can hold his own as a backup catcher would be big for Pittsburgh. He has the chance to make the organization start asking questions about if Bart belongs on the MLB team.
This Team Being Competent Makes Me Way too Happy
Pictured are the player’s OPS all the way down the lineup Thursday, and it’s beautiful to see so many numbers start with a 7 or higher. The lineup has been mind-numbingly bad with RISP this season at times, but they have always found a way to bounce back and win games like this one. Last year the Pirates had 2 hitters who finished with an OPS over .700, and so far this year every bat in the top 6 of our line up clears that bar. Gone are the criminally boring Pirates who made watching them a chore. It speaks to our depth when Spencer Horwitz doesn’t bat in the top half of the lineup despite being our most consistent hitter since the beginning of 2025. The 2013 Pirates broke into the playoffs despite having an offense that was slightly below average. This current Pirates team has at minimum a league average lineup and ultimately why I think they we will have Buctober for the first time in a decade.
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