Brandon Lowe knows the look and feel of winning baseball, the need for resilience, the execution, how it energizes the crowd. The Pirates second baseman also believes this team has what it takes to reach that step of the journey and succeed.
Which is why the focus for him this week, as the trade deadline inches closer and closer, is straightforward.
“The biggest thing is we keep playing the way that we’re playing and winning ballgames, hopefully we make some additions and we’re buyers,” Lowe said. “There’s not a single sell from anybody in this clubhouse.”
Lowe did his part Monday, delivering a walk-off single to end the Pirates’ 3-2 victory over the Diamondbacks in 10 innings at PNC Park. It capped a three-hit night for him and completed the comeback from a two-run deficit.
But as far as Lowe is concerned, it provided another dopamine shot for those inside the home clubhouse.
They want more of this.
“The atmosphere here is just incredible,” Lowe said. “It’s a lot of fun to play in front of these fans. I don’t even think it was a packed house [Monday], and it was loud.
“We understand what the city of Pittsburgh and this area really wants to see. We’re doing whatever we can to make sure we give ‘em what they want.”
Beating Arizona helped Pittsburgh raise its record to 13-10 during this 25-game stretch against teams .500 or better, while it moved the Pirates into a tie with the Diamondbacks for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
The final two games of this series will matter plenty, but the Pirates on Monday showed what’s possible if they can shut down their opponent in the later innings.
Following 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball from Mitch Keller, Yohan Ramirez, Ron Marinaccio, Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery spun 4 2/3 scoreless frames, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out four.
They also did this after losing Esmerlyn Valdez to an ugly-looking hand/wrist injury when he was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning.
We saw Billy Cook properly extend a rundown, Jared Triolo get a key out at home in the sixth … little things that added up to a big win to start a series.
“It's going to take all 26 guys to win games and get to where we want to go, and we need everybody pulling in the same direction,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “I think we saw that [Monday].”
In a few ways, it was fitting that Lowe’s single to first base sealed it. And that he finished with three hits after striking out in his first two at-bats, Lowe’s second straight multi-hit showing his swing trending in a better direction.
Over the past month, Lowe has posted a .621 OPS with just one home run in 20 contests. Yet much like Ryan O’Hearn before he hit a grand slam Sunday or Bryan Reynolds, whose eighth-inning double tied the game and was also his first RBI in his past 10, Lowe has maintained an impressive sense of professionalism.
He’s been the exact same person, a total pro, the same high-quality teammate.
Put another way, the veteran-ness that represents exactly why general manager Ben Cherington traded for Lowe this past December.
Not in a dictatorial or egotistical way, mind you. But Lowe has helped create a positive clubhouse culture the Pirates need to bank on now.
He was part of the welder’s hood celebration during Spring Training, and he’s been the voice of reason at several key junctures this season: when Kelly benched him for Nick Yorke against a lefty or when the Pirates lost nine of 13 to open June. It’s a long season, Lowe reminded everyone. The team must stick together and remember that a bunch of different things can happen.
“With the guys in this clubhouse,” Lowe said, “there’s always a chance.”
It didn’t feel that way in the six, after Valdez was lost and Max Kepler hit an out-of-the-zone changeup into the right-field corner for a double against Keller.
It felt a few different losses rolled into one.
But after Jake Mangum singled and advanced to third on a throwing error by Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly in the sixth, Lowe set the tone with a hugely professional at-bat, putting a ball on the ground with the infield back to score the run.
Reynolds’ double tied it, then Lowe smoked a 2-2 cutter 104.5 mph in the 10th to score Cook. However, Lowe’s best performance might’ve been afterward, when he couldn’t wait to deflect credit.
The first target was Mason Montgomery, who navigated the ghost runner and a Nick Gonzales error in the 10th, striking out Gabriel Moreno and getting Kepler to line out to center.
“We’re not in [the walkoff] situation if he doesn’t pick us up right there,” Lowe said of Montgomery. “That was probably the biggest point of the game.”
Then Reynolds’ at-bat in the eighth, where he was called for a pair of questionable check swings and Kelly was ejected.
“It would be very easy to fold and get [ticked], just throw away an at-bat or let the emotions take over,” Lowe said. “It didn’t seem like it bothered him whatsoever.”
That next-pitch mentality, the resilience, it’s something Lowe and others have helped create, putting the Pirates on the precipice of delivering for fans the way he described.
Lowe might be on an expiring deal, but in a departures from Pirates deadlines of the past, that should be a no-fly zone here.
Lowe has been too important to this team and the turnaround it has experienced in 2026.
“He's such a competitor, such a great hitter and means so much to this team with the professionalism of his at-bats and how he goes after it,” Kelly said. “We talked a lot the other day about O'Hearn and the ‘struggles’ he was going through.
“You'd never know it with these guys, the way they show up, work and interact with everyone. They're professionals, and they just compete every single day. You see that in the resilience of individuals and also of the team.”
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.