PITTSBURGH - For a team that has spent much of the second half fighting uphill, the Pittsburgh Pirates found something valuable in their three-game set with the Boston Red Sox: a way to handle left-handed pitching.
Pittsburgh won the series by taking two of three at PNC Park, opening with an 8-4 victory on Aug. 14 and closing it with an 8-3 win on Aug. 16. The common thread was clear from the first inning on - the Pirates kept forcing the issue against Boston’s lefties.
That was the biggest development of the series, and it came against a club that had given them problems all season. The Pirates attacked rookie southpaw Jake Bennett in the opener and then did even more damage against Patrick Sandoval in the finale.
Against Bennett, Pittsburgh collected five hits and scored four runs over four innings. Rafael Flores Jr. stayed hot with a solo home run in the second inning, then added an RBI single in the fourth. The Pirates kept rolling in that fourth inning when Ronny Simon singled, Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez followed with back-to-back doubles, and Valdez’s two-run double pushed the lead to 4-0.
The offense didn’t stop there. Brandon Lowe later delivered a three-run homer off Red Sox left-handed reliever Jovani Morán in the fifth.
The finale was even more one-sided. Valdez and Reynolds opened the scoring against Sandoval with consecutive doubles in the first inning, and Lowe followed with an RBI single for a quick 2-0 lead. Pittsburgh blew it open in the fifth: Jared Triolo singled, Valdez doubled again, Reynolds and Lowe each drove in runs with singles, and the Pirates had a 4-0 cushion.
Jake Mangum then singled to load the bases, and Nick Yorke, back in the lineup for the first time in more than three months, lined a two-run single to make it 6-0. Henry Davis added a sacrifice fly to push it to 7-0 and end Sandoval’s day. Yorke came through again in the seventh with another RBI single, this time against left-hander Raymond Burgos.
The numbers behind the turnaround are ugly for Pittsburgh overall, but the series offered a glimpse of what can work. The Pirates are 12-26 against southpaw starters this season and just 4-9 against left-handed pitching after the All-Star break. They’re hitting .243/.309/.382 for a .692 OPS against lefties, compared with .262/.343/.424 and a .767 OPS against right-handers, along with a 49-39 record in those games.
Even so, the Pirates have shown they do have some answers. Flores, Valdez and Reynolds have been especially useful against left-handed pitching, and Yorke’s first game back gave them another right-handed bat who can help off the bench. Triolo and Billy Cook give them more right-handed options, while Simon and Mangum have also had success against lefties.
The club is also hoping for the return of Oneil Cruz, who was making major gains against left-handed pitching before his injury. Pittsburgh would also like to get Konnor Griffin and Ryan O'Hearn back before the end of 2026, two more injured players who hit left-handed pitching well.
It has been a rough season for the Pirates when a southpaw is on the mound. Against the Red Sox, though, they showed they may have found a better way to attack that problem.
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