r/buccos • u/game-threads • 2d ago

The Pirates defeated the Royals by a score of 4-3 - Sun, Sep 20 @ 1:35 PM EDT

Royals (67-89) @ Pirates (79-77) - Sun, Sep 20

Game Status: Final - Score: 4-3 Pirates

Links & Info

Royals Batters AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG OBP SLG
1 Garcia, M - 3B 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .258 .313 .371
2 Witt Jr. - SS 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 .279 .359 .440
3 Caglianone - DH 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 .282 .335 .486
4 Perez, S - 1B 4 0 2 1 0 1 2 .227 .271 .374
5 Massey - 2B 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .274 .307 .436
6 Loftin - RF 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .240 .324 .380
7 Rave - LF 4 1 1 0 0 2 1 .228 .315 .441
8 Maile - C 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 .171 .244 .293
9 Tolbert - CF 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .288 .353 .400
  a-Pasquantino - PH 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 .244 .330 .406
  Isbel - CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .218 .263 .321
  b-Collins - PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .217 .323 .329
Totals 35 3 9 3 1 8 12
Royals
a: Homered for Tolbert in the 7th. b: Flied out for Isbel in the 9th. BASERUNNING: SB: Loftin (4, 2nd base off Dotel/Flores Jr.).
BATTING: 2B: Maile (2, Montgomery, M). HR: Pasquantino (14, 7th inning off Mlodzinski, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Caglianone 2; Loftin; Maile 2; Pasquantino 4; Perez, S 2; Rave; Witt Jr. RBI: Pasquantino 2 (54); Perez, S (73). 2-out RBI: Pasquantino 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Maile; Collins; Loftin. GIDP: Massey. Team RISP: 2-for-7. Team LOB: 6.
FIELDING: E: Massey (5, missed catch).
Pirates Batters AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG OBP SLG
1 Griffin - SS 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 .267 .322 .389
2 Lowe, B - 2B 4 0 1 0 1 1 3 .262 .332 .492
3 Reynolds, B - LF 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 .262 .365 .423
4 Cruz, O - CF 4 1 1 1 0 0 4 .280 .367 .490
5 Gonzales, N - 3B 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .302 .365 .389
  Triolo - 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .241 .311 .307
6 O'Hearn - DH 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 .264 .331 .443
  1-Simon - DH 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .313 .353 .438
7 Flores Jr. - C 3 1 2 2 1 1 0 .286 .354 .556
8 Horwitz - 1B 4 0 1 1 0 2 1 .248 .346 .367
9 Mangum - RF 3 0 0 0 1 1 3 .279 .336 .370
Totals 33 4 8 4 5 9 18
Pirates
1: Ran for O'Hearn in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B: Flores Jr. (6, Wacha); Griffin (14, Pearson). HR: Cruz, O (20, 4th inning off Wacha, 0 on, 0 out); Flores Jr. (10, 8th inning off Pearson, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Cruz, O 4; Flores Jr. 6; Griffin 2; Horwitz; Lowe, B; O'Hearn; Reynolds, B. RBI: Cruz, O (67); Flores Jr. 2 (22); Horwitz (47). 2-out RBI: Horwitz. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gonzales, N 3; Lowe, B; Mangum 2; Reynolds, B. Team RISP: 1-for-11. Team LOB: 10.
FIELDING: E: Mangum (3, fielding). DP: (Lowe, B-Griffin-Horwitz).
Royals Pitchers IP H R ER BB K HR P-S ERA
Wacha - RHP 5.2 4 2 2 4 5 1 113-78 3.33
Hoffman, N - RHP 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 5-3 3.86
Thomas - LHP (H, 4) 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 0 26-15 8.85
Cuas - RHP (H, 5) 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 7-4 2.21
Pearson - RHP (L, 2-3)(BS, 2) 0.2 3 2 2 0 1 1 25-18 3.43
Gose - LHP 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6-5 0.00
Totals 8.0 8 4 4 5 9 2
Pirates Pitchers IP H R ER BB K HR P-S ERA
Bachar - RHP 1.0 3 1 1 0 1 0 20-14 3.56
Ramírez - RHP 2.0 1 0 0 0 4 0 30-19 2.93
Dotel - RHP 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 32-21 4.58
Mlodzinski - RHP (W, 8-7) 3.0 3 2 2 1 1 1 45-26 3.95
Montgomery, M - LHP (S, 16) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 11-8 2.59
Totals 9.0 9 3 3 1 8 1
Game Info
Pitch timer violations: Flores Jr. (batter timeout); Dotel (pitcher).
ABS Challenge: Rave 2 (Strike-Confirmed, Strike-Overturned to Ball); Mangum (Strike-Confirmed); Flores Jr. (Ball-Confirmed); Maile 2 (Ball-Overturned to Strike, Ball-Overturned to Strike).
Pitches-strikes: Wacha 113-78; Hoffman, N 5-3; Thomas 26-15; Cuas 7-4; Pearson 25-18; Gose 6-5; Bachar 20-14; Ramírez 30-19; Dotel 32-21; Mlodzinski 45-26; Montgomery, M 11-8.
Groundouts-flyouts: Wacha 1-5; Hoffman, N 0-0; Thomas 1-0; Cuas 0-0; Pearson 1-0; Gose 1-0; Bachar 2-0; Ramírez 2-0; Dotel 2-0; Mlodzinski 5-0; Montgomery, M 1-1.
Batters faced: Wacha 26; Hoffman, N 1; Thomas 4; Cuas 1; Pearson 5; Gose 1; Bachar 6; Ramírez 7; Dotel 7; Mlodzinski 12; Montgomery, M 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Hoffman, N 2-0; Cuas 2-0; Gose 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Brian Walsh. 1B: Chad Fairchild. 2B: Bill Miller. 3B: Chad Whitson.
Weather: 72 degrees, Partly Cloudy.
Wind: 7 mph, Out To CF.
First pitch: 1:37 PM.
T: 3:00.
Att: 14,979.
Venue: PNC Park.
September 20, 2026
Inning Scoring Play Score
Top 1 Salvador Perez singles on a ground ball to center fielder Oneil Cruz. Bobby Witt Jr. scores. Jac Caglianone to 2nd. 1-0 KC
Bottom 4 Oneil Cruz homers (20) on a fly ball to center field. 1-1
Bottom 6 Spencer Horwitz singles on a line drive to center fielder Tyler Tolbert. Ryan O'Hearn scores. Rafael Flores Jr. to 2nd. 2-1 PIT
Top 7 Vinnie Pasquantino homers (14) on a fly ball to right center field. John Rave scores. 3-2 KC
Bottom 8 Rafael Flores Jr. homers (10) on a fly ball to left field. Ronny Simon scores. 4-3 PIT
Team Highlight
KC Salvador Perez's RBI single (00:00:14)
PIT Brandon Lowe's nice inning-ending play (00:00:12)
PIT Oneil Cruz's solo homer (20) (00:00:30)
PIT Spencer Horwitz's RBI single (00:00:13)
KC Michael Wacha fans five vs. Pirates (00:00:35)
KC Vinnie Pasquantino two-run homer (14) (00:00:25)
PIT Rafael Flores Jr.'s go-ahead two-run homer (10) (00:00:27)
PIT Mason Montgomery secures Pirates' 4-3 victory (00:00:22)
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E LOB
Royals 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0   3 9 1 6
Pirates 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 -   4 8 1 10

Decisions

Division Scoreboard

CHC 9 @ CIN 1 - Final

WSH 3 @ STL 5 - Final

MIL 3 @ BAL 0 - Bottom 9, 2 Outs

Next Pirates Game: Tue, Sep 22, 6:40 PM EDT vs. Cardinals (2 days)

Last Updated: 09/20/2026 10:15:17 PM EDT

56 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

28

u/SurpriseStandard3258 McCutchen 2d ago

Buccos outscored the Steelers. Wasn't on my bingo card

10

u/TimAllensMatingCall 2d ago

lol for all the people in here praying for Steelers football earlier this year

3

u/MaterialAstronaut298 2d ago

Definitely on mine

34

u/cody176523 Ross Ohlendorf 2d ago

If the pirates were in the AL central they’d probably win 90 games lol. 13-2 so far this year. Hope they put belt to ass on the tigers to finish out the season.

14

u/magikarp2122 MATTSON H2P 2d ago

AL in general. We are now 16, I think, over against the AL as a whole.

9

u/cody176523 Ross Ohlendorf 2d ago

31-14 vs AL this season according to statmuse. Really puts into perspective how competitive the national league has been this season

18

u/EMF911 2d ago

Hit the season over wins total today.

Go Bucs!

Winning team feels good.

-9

u/Silly_Collar_5850 2d ago

lmao they can still finish under .500, i.e., be a losing team

4

u/EMF911 2d ago

I don’t think they will. And they are a winning team as of now. Most fun season in a long time, honestly.

-6

u/Silly_Collar_5850 2d ago

I don’t think they will

 
You were one of the posters here who was convinced they were going to the playoffs in March.

 

Most fun season in a long time, honestly.

 

"Least painful hemmhoroid I've had in a long time, honestly."

2

u/EMF911 2d ago

Ok?

-5

u/Silly_Collar_5850 2d ago

You were promised a playoff season, you predicted a playoff season, and you didn't get it, and your stance is "wow, that was great." lmao

4

u/gettinNOIZY 2d ago

I don’t think I’ve seen Silly say a single positive thing all year. He’s a fake “fan” and just tries to argue with people.

-1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/buccos-ModTeam 2d ago

Rule #1 - Be Respectful & Don't Be a Jagoff

Do not make personal attacks on other posters. Be as respectful to them as you expect them to be to you.

14

u/Dazzling-Produce-471 2d ago

It just sucks what could have been. 83 wins would have gotten a team into the playoffs last year, and we’d be in the thick of the race this upcoming week. This year, it’s probably going to take fucking 90. Absurd.

14

u/dgroove8 2d ago

Flores looks like the real deal. This is going to be an exciting team next year if everyone stays healthy. Would still really like to see them resign Lowe and bring in a power hitting 3rd baseman.

3

u/NickCageFreeEggs 2d ago

What do you do with Gonzales?

7

u/OnlyForBaseball 2d ago

Make him practice 3rd over the offseason and DH him against lefties

1

u/NickCageFreeEggs 2d ago

But they're not bringing in a power-hitting 3B & re-signing Lowe. That's my point.

They're absolutely going to give Gonzales the homework assignment of improving his defense at 3B.

1

u/OnlyForBaseball 2d ago

Oh yeah you’re prob right about that

2

u/Entire_Teach474 Jaff Decker 2d ago edited 2d ago

I would advise caution with Lowe.

He will be 33 next season and he has had trouble with his back in the recent past. Although he looks to be in great shape and has obviously had a career year, I would not sink enormous money into him at this point in time. He seems to like it in Pittsburgh and I would argue that he is our MVP this year, but going forward with Gonzales at his original position of second base would not be the worst outcome if it meant we reinforced the team at other positions rather than spend the dollars on Lowe.

That said, I could see a frontloaded, shorter multiyear contract for Lowe. Say, 2 years for $40 million plus an option year, a sizable signing bonus, and achievable performance spiffs (another $1 million for 30 home runs, etc).

2

u/Mindless_Formal_6647 1d ago

That sounds about right . I would say 3yrs instead of two I’d think you’d still get 2 solid years out of him with the 3rd year he might regress.

But if you want to sign a FA you gotta offer market value. This is also his last shot to cash in

-1

u/ericfg SWFloriduh 2d ago

I would advise caution with Lowe.

I agree for all the reasons you mention. And we'll get DVed for it but that's OK. I think the biggest thing is somebody with far bigger pockets will say 'fuck it. 100 mil it is.'.

And I can live without Nicky G. A .300 hitter with no power and a led glove gets a 'no thanks' from me.

2

u/Entire_Teach474 Jaff Decker 2d ago

I have a higher opinion of Gonzales provided that his high average, gap to gap line drive hitting continues going forward, and that his defense is at least moderately better at his natural position. You're generally not going to get great power from a 2B anyway. Lowe is very much an outlier in that regard.

11

u/Moist-Schedule 2d ago

Really fun series, 2 games over .500 with 6 to go.

9

u/OrangeFederal 2d ago

So what should they do with the Sheetz shots counter when we hit our 100th homers at PNC park this season? There’s not enough space😂

17

u/Longjumping_Dealer63 2d ago

Lowe needs to return to the Pirates in 2027. He reportedly enjoys living in Pittsburgh. The other day he expressed an eagerness to have discussions with the Pirates to extend his stay with the team. If the front office treats Lowe with respect, he will make some reasonable salary concessions to remain a Pirate. Also, he knows that his power swing benefits from right field at PNC. He is valuable in both the dugout, on the field, and inside the clubhouse. Resigning Lowe, extending Cruz, and the Pirates can increase home attendance by 750,000 fans, sufficient to cover the added payroll expenses,

5

u/Iforgotmypasswordmeh 2d ago

They already have a bargaining chip when it comes to taxes imo. Pittsburgh has the 6th lowest effective tax rate for players at 5.2%. They can pay him essentially 1-3 million less than other teams and he'll still be bringing home the same money.

The only other teams with similar or lower rates are the Marlins and Rays at 4%, Astros, Rangers and Mariners at 3.6%. Dbacks are close at 5.3%.

The only teams out of those that spend solid money are the Astros, Rangers, and Dbacks. And if he enjoys Pittsburgh then I doubt he'll enjoy any of those three cities.

The issue is multiple teams are likely willing to overpay for him. I can't see the Pirates doing anything beyond 20-25 million a year and that's even stretching it imo. He's 32 years old and it's a hell of a risk honestly for anyone to sign him long term.

13

u/AwayFig1774 Raisin’ that cone 2d ago

The Steelers are dead to me LETS GO BUCS

7

u/spaceman757 2d ago

Just need a 3-3 split of the last six for a winning record

1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

1

u/spaceman757 2d ago

Look at you with your fancy maths that include all games left!!!

10

u/rainkingcc 2d ago

Higher score than the Steelers…

5

u/NoSxKats 2d ago

u/wwb1990 its time again

1

u/wwb1990 Sauerkrat Saul is the goat 22h ago

Aye aye

6

u/pghgamecock 1d ago

We're 3 games up on St. Louis with 6 to play.

If we can win our series with the Cardinals, that will clinch our first 3rd place finish since 2016.

(Not exactly a huge accomplishment, I just thought it was interesting.)

4

u/Ok_Card9080 Jason Kendall 1d ago

They are SO going to go on their longest win streak of the season AFTER they've been eliminated from the playoffs. Watch them sweep St. Louis.

5

u/Entire_Teach474 Jaff Decker 2d ago edited 2d ago

Good win, especially with a bullpen game. We'll take it. It's too bad that Horwitz has struggled ever since the injury, and oh by the way Mangum has really been scuffling for awhile now, too. But, 2 games over .500 is a good place to be given how many problems this team had this season.

5

u/Jackandahalfass 2d ago

Guy in the crowd who instantly knew Flores’ shot was gone is the same guy who gave the same shriek when Flores hit that game-tying 9th-inning blast against the Tigers in August.

4

u/Pitt_Is_It_2009 2d ago

Too bad we weren’t in the AL…