ST. LOUIS - The Pirates came out of a brutal stretch with something they badly needed: a win, and a little momentum to carry into what may be the most important week of their season.
Sunday’s 5-4 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium gave Pittsburgh a second straight series win and its fourth series win in the past five chances. But it also arrived with a catch. Last weekend’s sweep at the hands of the Dodgers still hangs over everything, and the standings haven’t moved enough to soften the blow.
Pittsburgh sits at 67-71, still six games back of the final National League Wild Card spot. The calendar is the other problem.
There are fewer chances left, which makes this week at PNC Park feel enormous. The Giants and Angels are coming to town, and both rank among the four worst teams in Major League Baseball.
Manager Don Kelly didn’t sugarcoat it.
“We got to go, man,” Kelly said. “But it doesn't matter who you're playing. Every single day you’ve got to show up.”
The Pirates did enough Sunday to keep the faintest thread of hope alive. Esmerlyn Valdez and Jared Triolo both went deep, Braxton Ashcraft turned in another strong start, and the bullpen weathered a seventh-inning wobble from Camilo Doval before Kirby Yates, Luke Weaver and Mason Montgomery finished the job.
Valdez set the tone early, launching a two-run homer in the second inning for his 16th of the season. That’s the most by a Pirates rookie since Jack Suwinski hit 19 in 2022. He stayed on a full-count fastball from Matthew Liberatore and sent it the other way, 355 feet over the right-field wall.
“That was really big,” Kelly said.
Triolo’s shot in the fifth was even louder. He jumped on a 1-0 changeup and crushed it 412 feet at 104.1 mph into Big Mac Land in left.
"Oh, yeah, that was unbelievable,” Kelly said. “That was Albert Pujols-esque right there going to Big Mac land. That was impressive."
“I don’t know about [the Pujols comparison],” Triolo said, fighting back laughter. “But pretty cool mention.”
Pittsburgh also got a key insurance run from Brandon Lowe, who added a single in the seventh after Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson had singled earlier in the inning for St. Louis. Lowe’s hit came on a changeup middle away and stretched the Pirates’ lead back to three.
That cushion mattered, because the Cardinals made one last push against Doval in the seventh. Bryan Torres drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Herrera followed with a double into the left-field corner to cut the gap again. Yohan Ramírez got out of the mess, and Weaver and Montgomery handled the ninth.
It was another clean-looking night for a bullpen that entered Sunday with a 2.71 ERA in August, second-best in the majors.
“[The bullpen] has turned into a strength for us,” Kelly said.
Ashcraft was the other big reason Pittsburgh left with a win. The right-hander worked five innings and allowed two runs, improving to 14 wins on the season. His 1.61 ERA over his past four starts and 1.91 mark this month both speak to how steady he has been.
On a 92-degree afternoon in St. Louis, Ashcraft looked calm throughout. Over his last four starts, he has given up just five earned runs in 28 innings, with three walks and 19 strikeouts.
“It’s huge,” Ashcraft said. “Being able to go out there and cover innings, put together quality innings, give us a chance to win, that’s what we look for with starting pitching.”
There are at least a couple more reasons for Pittsburgh to feel a little better about what’s ahead. The Pirates have not handled left-handed starters well this year, going 14-30 against them, and Sunday’s win came against Matthew Liberatore. But the Giants’ projected trio of starters are all right-handed, which helps the matchup this week.
San Francisco also entered Sunday having lost six of 10, and it has scored the fewest runs in the National League this season with 560.
The Pirates are still short on margin for error, but they’re getting help back soon. Konnor Griffin started a rehab assignment Sunday with Double-A Altoona, and general manager Ben Cherington said on the Pirates Insider Show that Ryan O’Hearn is not far behind.
If Pittsburgh can somehow turn this week into the hot streak it has been searching for, the payoff could be a trip to Chicago with two more bats in the mix. For now, though, the mission is simpler: make this homestand matter.
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