The Pirates’ season-long trouble against left-handed starters showed up one last time Wednesday night, and Matthew Liberatore made sure of it.
Pittsburgh fell 5-1 to the Cardinals, snapping a five-game winning streak and getting held to six hits and one run in 5 2/3 innings against the left-hander. For the Pirates, it was another reminder of the one matchup that kept biting them all year long.
With four right-handed opponents waiting over the final four games, Pittsburgh closed the year at .229 with 3.82 runs per game against lefty starters, finishing 18-33 in those games. Manager Don Kelly didn’t sugarcoat the issue.
“We've got to [improve],” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “It has been an Achilles' heel against lefties.”
The numbers back him up. Pittsburgh’s on-base percentage against lefties sat at .300, its slugging percentage at .359, and both marks ranked last. The Pirates also finished last in batting average and runs per game against southpaws, while their 25.6% strikeout rate versus left-handed pitching was second-worst in MLB.
That weakness stood in contrast to a much better overall offensive season. Pittsburgh set a franchise record with 182 home runs and finished among the majors’ best in several key categories, ranking second in hits with 1,374, tied for fifth in runs with 751 and fourth in on-base percentage at .330.
The offseason additions of left-handed hitters Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn helped drive that jump. O’Hearn posted a career-high 18 home runs, while Lowe turned in the kind of season that put him among the sport’s best offensive second basemen, finishing with 34 home runs and 94 RBIs.
Even so, the lefty problem didn’t spare Lowe. He hit .220 with a .632 OPS against left-handers, compared with a .279 average and .908 OPS against righties. But on Wednesday, he broke through, taking Liberatore deep in the second inning to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.
That was the Pirates’ only damage against Liberatore. Earlier this season, they had handled him better - on Aug.
30, Pittsburgh scored four runs against the 26-year-old, with home runs from Esmerlyn Valdez and Jared Triolo. Valdez, though, is done for the year because of a hamstring injury.
“Against Liberatore especially, I thought he threw the ball pretty well tonight. We've had good at-bats and some success against him in the past,” Kelly said.
“But overall against lefties, we have to find a way to get better. When we've been good against them, I feel like here in this latter part of the second half, we've been better.
Tonight, we just weren't able to capitalize on it.”
There were signs of progress in the individual numbers. Oneil Cruz hit .323 against lefties after batting just .102 against them a year ago, a jump the Pirates would love to see spread through the lineup in 2027. Cruz was out of the lineup Wednesday.
Konnor Griffin also showed promise against southpaws, batting .313 in 80 at-bats, though he missed much of the summer while on a 60-day stint on the injured list.
In Other News...
Pirates Just Closed The Book On One Young Pitchers First Shot
The Pirates made a late-season pitching shuffle ahead of their series finale on Sept. 24, sending right-hander Khristian Curtis back to the Rookie-level Florida Complex League and bringing up left-hander Evan Sisk from Triple-A Indianapolis. It marked the end of Curtis first run with Pittsburgh, a brief look that gave the organization a chance to see him in big-league action over the course of six games.
With the season winding down, the move keeps Sisk in the mix for the final stretch while Curtis returns to the next step in his development. For a club that has spent much of the year sorting through arms and auditioning options, the transaction reads less like a surprise than another reminder that the Pirates are already thinking about how these pieces fit beyond the present. [Read more 🡒]
Paul Skenes Gave Pirates Fans One Last Ace Moment To Remember
Paul Skenes closed out his 2026 season with the kind of outing Pirates fans have come to expect from him, even in a year that tested the limits of the win-loss column. Against the St. Louis Cardinals, he worked 6 1/3 innings, allowed three hits and one earned run, walked two and struck out eight, giving Pittsburgh one more reminder of why every start from him still feels like an event.
The night also carried a clean final marker for his season, as Skenes reached 200 strikeouts before the year was done. He wrapped up with a 10-11 record, a 3.82 ERA and 200 strikeouts across 174 1/3 innings, numbers that reflect both how often he gave the Pirates a chance and how much more his stuff continued to play over a full season. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Bullpen Overhaul Leaves One Big 2027 Question
The Pirates kept turning over the back end of their bullpen this week, and Camilo Doval was the clearest casualty of the reset. After his struggles and with a projected arbitration salary for 2027 looming, Pittsburgh designated the right-hander for assignment, a move that fits the clubs push to rework a relief group that has been one of its most fluid areas all season. The emphasis now is on younger arms, with Yohan Ramrez, Carmen Mlodzinski and Mason Montgomery all in line to get more of the late-inning responsibility.
Montgomery has already taken over the closer role, giving the Pirates at least one defined answer in a bullpen that is otherwise headed for more change. Gregory Soto and Kirby Yates are set to reach free agency, while Luke Weaver remains under contract with part of his salary still being paid by his former team. Even after this round of moves, the bigger question for Pittsburgh is how much of the 2027 relief picture is already taking shape, and how much of it is still to be sorted out. [Read more 🡒]