'Go out and attack': Offensive explosion helps Pirates start Chicago trip in style

CHICAGO — As the Pirates grinded through three one-run outputs over the weekend, they remained confident that a breakout was near.

If they stuck to their approach, if they didn’t try to do too much, if they took what was given, their offense would rediscover its previous form.

The timing couldn’t be better, as the Pirates opened a crucial series against the White Sox with their best offensive performance in weeks, paving the way to a 9-3 rout at Rate Field on Tuesday.

“I thought we had a really good approach, especially early on,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “When we’re rolling like that and you see the confidence that breeds throughout the lineup, I thought it was really good.”

Pittsburgh pounded out 18 hits. Every Pirates starter had at least one. Oneil Cruz and Rafael Flores Jr. had three. Five had at least two.

Meanwhile, Bubba Chandler was outstanding to earn the win, spinning six innings of two-run ball while striking out eight. The combination of explosive offense and elite pitching helped the Pirates (71-72) draw to within a game of .500 for the first time since Aug. 4.

Flores homered, Bryan Reynolds collected two doubles, and Spencer Horwitz knocked in three runs to kickstart a week where the Pirates will play six straight road games in the same metro area for just the seventh time in the Expansion Era (1961-present).

“We jumped on them early, but we didn’t back off the gas at all,” Horwitz said. “It definitely helped to get out to that big lead, but Bubba threw the ball great.”

The offensive onslaught started with a leadoff double from Konnor Griffin, who had been 0 for 10 since returning from an injury to the sagittal band in his left ring finger.

Griffin crushed a fastball 109.4 mph to center for one of four doubles in the first, marking the second time this season Pittsburgh has produced four doubles in one inning.

The Pirates shortstop also made a ridiculous, barehand play to get shortstop Colson Montgomery in the seventh, showcasing his ability to provide a jolt of energy various ways.

“He's super talented,” Reynolds said of Griffin, who also made an excellent dirt-ball read in the first. “He's smart out there, and we missed having him. It's good to have him back."

Reynolds gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead with another two-bagger, hammering a 2-2 slider to right field to score Griffin.

Cruz followed by lacing another pitch down in the zone — a trend against White Sox starter Sean Burke — 111.2 mph to center, missing a home run by a foot or two. That scored two to make it a 3-0 game.

Esmerlyn Valdez gave the Pirates their fourth double within the first five batters by connecting on a fastball in the lower part of the zone, driving it 367 feet to right-center to score Cruz.

Horwitz put the cherry on top of the five-run inning with his run-scoring single into center, turning around a heater at 104.1 mph.

“I thought we had a good, aggressive game plan,” Horwitz said. “Go out and attack. We knew he was going to try and attack the zone, so we met that with our own aggressiveness.”

Among the impressive numbers from the first:

• The Pirates scored five runs on six hits, sending 10 batters to the plate.

• Pittsburgh had its first seven batters reach base, the first time that’s happened since Aug. 1, 2025 at Colorado.

• Those five runs created a tie for the Pirates’ largest first inning this season, matching May 2 against Cincinnati and May 26 against the Cubs.

• Tuesday marked the first time in the Expansion Era (since 1961) the Pirates have had four doubles in the first inning of a game.

The outpouring also wasn't over.

In the second, Horwitz lined a slider to center to score two. It was an important get-right game for Horwitz, who had been hitting just .150 in 27 games since returning from the injured list prior to Tuesday.

Coupled with a second-inning double from Reynolds, the Pirates produced five doubles through the first two innings for the first time since July 10, 1993 against the Reds.

It’s also only the second time it’s happened across Major League Baseball this season.

After things quiet down some, Flores created some noise in the fifth with his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot that came on a curveball located down and in from former Pirate Jose Urquidy.

The homer, which upped the lead to 8-0, gave Pirates catchers 25 home runs this season, their most in any season since at least 1969. Furthermore, the Pirates began Tuesday’s game with 24 home runs from catchers, sixth-best in MLB.

One final stat to show how much the Pirates weren’t fooled in this one: They registered 19 batted balls with an exit velocity of 95 mph or greater.

“A lot of good at-bats, a lot of good barrels,” Reynolds said. “Hit the ball hard, good things happen."

Chandler gasses up

When Chandler has found success this season, he's had supreme control of his fastball, moving it up and down, in and out. Chandler had that Tuesday and then some. His fastball was elite.

Chandler breezed through four perfect frames to start, striking out seven, all but one of those coming on heat. The White Sox plated runs in the fifth and sixth, but given the offense Chandler had at his disposal, it didn’t matter.

The right-hander didn't walk a batter and notched his fifth quality start and first since Aug. 8 against the Mets.

“We always say, it makes the game a lot easier on the pitching side when you go out there and you’re not afraid to give up runs because what the offense is doing,” Chandler said. “I think it was just that. It put me in a good spot.”

Over his past seven starts (since Aug. 3), Chandler has a 3.38 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings, allowing five or fewer hits in each of those starts.

As for the fastball, it helped Chandler achieve 16 of his 17 whiffs, the most by a Pirates pitcher in the Statcast Era (2015-present). The previous high was Paul Skenes’ 15 on July 19 at Cleveland.

“I was not very confident in the other stuff today, so I’m glad the fastballs were good,” Chandler said. “It was playing pretty well.”

By the numbers

72-73: Overall record

5.0: Games back in NL Wild Card race

8: Wins in 10 games for the Pirates against the AL Central this sseason.

26-14: Pirates’ record in interleague play.

Touchdowns and such

The Pirates have now scored at least seven runs in 44 games this season, their most such games since 2000 (48).

Only the Cubs (50) have scored seven-plus more times.

Furthermore, Tuesday marked Pittsburgh’s 22nd game with at least nine runs, its most since matching that number in 2019.

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.