Jason Mackey: Pirates have to find more solutions within struggling bullpen

Just when it looked like the Pirates might enjoy some late-inning magic, familiar frustration arrived in the form of their latest bullpen blowup.

Esmerlyn Valdez delivered a pinch-hit homer to give the Pirates a one-run lead in the eighth, but Reds designated hitter Eugenio Suarez answered with a three-run shot off Gregory Soto in the ninth, delivering the final blow of a 9-7 Pittsburgh loss on a rainy Saturday at PNC Park.

The Pirates have now blown 17 saves, third-most in MLB. That’s as many as they’ve converted. The problem has nagged them the entire season, and it needs to get fixed — fast.

"We’ve got to get better," Pirates manager Don Kelly said. "Games like that, we have to find a way to win them."

Suarez hit a 2-2 sinker down 344 feet to right field. It wasn’t a bomb, but it counts just the same. Soto, who has a 12.15 ERA in eight June appearances, also allowed a leadoff single and walked two, his command not sharp enough.

"I battled the whole inning," Soto said, with Major League coach Stephen Morales translating. "I could not execute my pitch there and paid for it.”

The Pirates' bullpen issues aren’t small or recent. Soto, their de facto closer, now has a 3.93 ERA … and this month not withstanding, he's been among their best options.

Mason Montgomery, who gave up an eighth-inning homer that ultimately decided Friday's loss, has a 7.27 ERA in June. Dennis Santana has been better of late but still has a 5.00 ERA this month.

It almost feels like Isaac Mattson returning and Yohan Ramirez improving passed the problems onto Soto and Montgomery. But the reality is that the group needs help.

Pittsburgh's relievers have a 4.41 ERA this season, which ranks 19th in MLB. Obviously that's not good enough for a team that has openly declared the postseason as the goal.

"Definitely, it’s frustrating," Soto said. "That’s part of my job. We have to continue to go out there and do our jobs. It’s going to happen sometimes. You just try to minimize it.”

For a few minutes anyway, this looked like it would be a special night for Valdez, who connected on a first-pitch fastball from former Pirate Caleb Ferguson.

After homering in back-to-back games, Valdez went quiet and was sent to Triple-A. However, he caught a spark in Colorado and has been riding it ever since. In his past five games, Valdez has now gone 6 for 14 (.429) with two doubles, two home runs and three RBIs.

“What power he has to be able to go the other way like that,” Kelly said. “Give us a chance to win the game.”

A chance the bullpen couldn't preserve, that theme — and the accompanying frustration — accumulating. This marked the Pirates’ third loss this season when trailing after eight innings. It also dropped their record when tied after seven to 5-4.

There have been plenty of winnable games Pittsburgh hasn’t been to nail down.

“We need to find a way,” Kelly said.

Offensively, Brandon Lowe homered and had four RBIs, while Jared Triolo finished with three hits, an RBI and scored twice.

The Reds led, 2-0, in the third when Lowe cracked his 20th homer of the season, a no-doubter right that represented Pittsburgh’s first runs against Cincinnati starting pitcher Chase Burns since Aug. 8, 2025.

Burns threw Lowe a 2-1 changeup that leaked over the middle. Lowe blasted it 396 feet at 107.4 mph, continuing his impressive first season with the Pirates.

Lowe, who began the game tied for fourth in MLB with 39 extra-base hits, sits just three home runs shy of Neil Walker’s franchise record for a second baseman. Furthermore, Lowe’s homer was the 55th the Pirates have hit at PNC Park this season. They have an MLB-low 49 here in 2025.

Triolo made it 4-2 in the fourth with his single, but the Reds rallied with five runs in the fifth and sixth.

Second baseman Edwin Arroyo, the No. 9 hitter, lined a two-strike curveball the opposite way into left to score one. Then Lowe failed to field a ball hit by third baseman Sal Stewart, allowing another run to score and extending the inning.

The Reds grabbed a 6-4 lead when catcher Jose Trevino punched an elevated sinker from Yohan Ramirez through the right side for a two-run single.

Jared Jones worked 4 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk while striking out four. Despite Jones racking up 12 whiffs, including five with his slider, the right-hander also had a balk, gave up a home run and threw two wild pitches.

“Everything felt great coming out of the hand,” Jones said. “But gave up a homer. Had a messy fifth inning. Pretty frustrating.”

Jones has now worked 25 innings this season and has a 5.76 ERA while allowing five home runs. Suffice to say, he’s not happy about it.

“I’m getting lit up,” Jones said. “That’s not a good spot to be in.

“[I need to] throw the ball in the zone more. Make more competitive pitches. I got burned by a lot of two-strike counts right down the middle.”

Bryan Reynolds continued to build on his impressive on-base and hit streaks with a first-inning single. The former now stands at 32 games, the longest since Jason Kendall reached base safely in that many games from June 26-Aug. 1, 2004.

The hitting streak, now at 17 games, matches the second-longest of Reynolds’ career: May 23-June 9, 2019.

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