The Pittsburgh Pirates left their three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers with more than just a split of the on-field damage. They walked away having shown a new kind of pop, even while their bullpen kept reminding everyone how thin the margin is right now.
Pittsburgh dropped the first two games at PNC Park, 5-1 on Sept. 15 and 5-4 on Sept. 16, before avoiding the sweep with a 7-4 win in the finale on Sept. 17. That put the Pirates at 76-77 overall, and they finished 7-6 against Milwaukee this season - the most wins any team managed against the Brewers.
The series also put a spotlight on a bullpen that had to carry two games because Braxton Ashcraft and Mitch Keller are out with season-ending injuries. Some of the relief work was solid.
Some of it was rough. That mix has become part of the story for Pittsburgh as it tries to sort out what works best with a taxed staff.
Lake Bachar allowed a run over two innings in the opener, Brandon Eisert worked 2.1 scoreless innings, and Yohan Ramírez finished the fifth inning. In the finale, Gregory Soto ran into trouble again, allowing four runs in the fifth and an inherited run in the sixth. Luke Weaver also had another difficult outing, giving up a leadoff double that scored and then a solo homer in the eighth.
There were better signs from the Pirates’ younger arms. Their right-handed rookie trio rebounded from a brutal showing against the Cubs on Sept. 11, when they combined to allow 12 runs over eight innings. Wilber Dotel gave up one run across two innings, Khristian Curtis followed with 3.1 innings in the finale, and Antwone Kelly added three scoreless innings in that same game to keep Pittsburgh alive.
Eisert also did his part, but Soto and Weaver are still searching, and that’s not a small concern with nine games left. Pittsburgh needs its bullpen at its best, and whoever answers that call can help shape their standing heading into 2027.
The bigger shift for the Pirates in this series came at the plate. They hit five home runs against Milwaukee, which fits a pattern that has taken hold in 2026. This club is no longer living in the power drought that defined 2025, when Pittsburgh finished with the fewest home runs in baseball at 117, 31 fewer than the next team.
The Pirates have already set a new franchise record for home runs in a season, and Oneil Cruz’s solo blast in the fourth inning of the second game was the 172nd of the year. Brandon Lowe was a major part of that surge.
The offseason addition hit two homers in this series and became the first Pirates player to reach 30 since Josh Bell in 2019, the first left-handed hitter to do it for Pittsburgh since Pedro Álvarez in 2013, and the new single-season home run record holder for a Pirates second baseman. Ryan O’Hearn also chipped in with a career-high 18 homers.
Cruz has 19 home runs of his own, a number that could have been higher if not for the left-hand fracture that cost him two months. Rookie Esmerlyn Valdez added 17 homers, including 14 in his first 37 games, before a left hamstring injury ended his season.
Jared Jones, who pitched Sept. 16 against Milwaukee, said the lineup’s power has been a real strength even if injuries kept the group from reaching its larger goal.
“We’re a good hitting team," Jones said. "At the end of the day, it sucks that we lost our key guys for a long term, I guess you could say, over the course of the season. It’s what could have been.”
Jones turned in another strong outing even in a loss, allowing three runs in five innings while tying his season high with nine strikeouts. Five came on his slider, with two each on his four-seam fastball and curveball. He limited hard contact, with only 38.5% of batted balls qualifying, and outside of four two-out singles in the second inning, he handled a dangerous Brewers lineup well.
That outing was part of a strong finish for Jones. Over his last two starts, he has thrown 13 scoreless innings, including six against the Angels on Sept. 4 and a start against the White Sox on Sept. 10 in which he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. His season has had ups and downs in his return from internal brace surgery, but he looks like he’s finding his best form again down the stretch.
Milwaukee left-hander Kyle Harrison had dominated the Pirates before this series. Through his first three starts against Pittsburgh, he had thrown 17 scoreless innings, allowing just seven hits and two walks while striking out 29. In his two starts against the Pirates this season, he had been even sharper: 11 scoreless innings, two hits, two walks and 22 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh finally broke through against him in the second inning of the finale. The Pirates pushed across five runs and chased Harrison before he could finish the frame.
Konnor Griffin ripped a two-run double with the bases loaded, Cruz followed with a two-run single, and Lowe drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-1. All five runs came with two outs, and Harrison’s inning also included three hits, two walks, two hit-by-pitches and a catcher’s interference.
For a club that has struggled against left-handed pitching all season - 17-32 compared to 59-45 against righties - that was a welcome exception. The lineup changes Pittsburgh made for Harrison paid off, and they were enough to keep the Brewers from leaving town with a sweep.
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Pirates Make Desperate Lineup Bet To Avoid Brewers Sweep
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It is the kind of lineup bet teams make when a series is slipping away and the opposing starter already has the upper hand. Pittsburgh has leaned on platoon thinking and a few personnel tweaks to give itself a better look against Harrison, with the goal of avoiding a sweep and getting something going before the day is over. [Read more 🡒]