PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates are suddenly stacking wins again, and Tuesday night made it five in a row after a 2-0 shutout of the Cardinals at PNC Park.
The headliner was Jared Jones, who carved through seven scoreless innings and came within one out of carrying a perfect game into the sixth. He allowed just one baserunner, struck out nine and kept St.
Louis off balance from the start, giving Pittsburgh its 80th win of the season. It marked the fifth time since 1993 that the Pirates have reached 80 victories.
Jones set the tone immediately by retiring the first 16 hitters in order. He punched out six of them and kept drawing weak contact while the wind blew in heavily. He entered the night riding a strong September, having given up only three runs over 18 innings in three starts.
That run has been part of a bigger climb for Jones as he keeps building away from internal brace surgery on his right arm in May 2025. He was perfect through six innings on July 8 against Atlanta before a high pitch count ended his night, then dealt with some uneven results in August before turning dominant again. On Sept. 10 in Chicago, he took a no-hit bid into the seventh against the White Sox.
On Tuesday, the perfect-game watch held through five innings, and Jones did it on just 59 pitches. The streak finally ended with one out in the sixth when Nathan Church went the other way and sent a ball just beyond the reach of third baseman Jacob Gonzalez.
It rolled into left field for a double, the only blemish on Jones’ line. He stranded Church at second, though, and Pittsburgh answered right away.
In the bottom of the sixth, Ryan O’Hearn lined an RBI single to score Oneil Cruz and put the Pirates ahead 1-0. Pittsburgh added another run in the seventh on a wild pitch, and Luke Weaver and Gregory Soto handled the rest after Jones exited at 86 pitches. Jones is scheduled to start the season finale on Sunday.
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