DETROIT — It’s not baseball in October. But the Pirates did achieve one of their secondary goals by securing their first winning season in eight years with a 4-2 victory over the Tigers on Sunday at Comerica Park.
Jared Jones delivered four strong innings, Konnor Griffin homered, and Mason Montgomery bounced back from Saturday's blown save with another shutdown performance, allowing the Pirates to end their season on a winning note.
The victory helped the Pirates (82-80) produce their first winning season since they went 82-79 in 2018. They were 15-9 in September, which qualifies as their best month of the season. Their second-best was going 16-12 in May.
Tracing back further, the Pirates closed the year by winning 24 of their final 40 games. That's since Aug. 13 at Miami — Braxton Ashcraft’s complete game, the day after manager Don Kelly tore into the team and started emphasizing more of a 1-0 mindset every day.
Pittsburgh tied Milwaukee for the best interleague record in MLB (32-16, .667). Those 32 wins are the most for any team since MLB expanded its interleague play prior to the 2023 season.
The outing for Jones closed a spectacular September, where the 25-year-old had a 0.93 ERA in five starts totaling 29 innings. Jones walked four and struck out 40 during that stretch, a positive end to a season that started with his recovery from internal brace surgery.
Jones’ September ERA tied for the third-lowest September ERA by a Pirates pitcher since 1898 (minimum: five starts). It’s the best since Paul Skenes had a 0.75 ERA in September 2024.
Using a minimum of 20 innings, Jones’ .163 opponents’ slugging percentage was the lowest by a Pirate in September since Goose Goose’s .109 in 1977.
Against the Tigers, Jones racked up 10 whiffs on just 55 pitches, including five on his slider. Jones’ velocity maintained and was even up a hair. On Sunday, he allowed just one hard-hit ball (exit velocity of 95 mph or greater), threw first-pitch strikes to seven of 13, and the Tigers amassed just one hit: Kevin McGonigle’s single in the fourth inning.
Overall, Jones finished the year with a 3.72 ERA, striking out 123 in 101 2/3 innings.
It didn’t take long for the Pirates to procure the lead in this one — just two pitches. Griffin, who hadn’t homered since June 26, lined a 1-0 four-seamer on the inside part of the plate over the fence in left-center for his sixth of the season.
The homer continued a recent strong stretch for Griffin, who began the game hitting .300 (18 for 60) with four doubles and two triples over his past 14 games since Sept. 11 in Chicago.
Jake Mangum helped the Pirates double their lead in the next inning, lining a full-count slider into left for an RBI single, before Billy Cook made it a 3-0 game in the fourth.
Cook’s last hit came July 19 in Cleveland. But he smacked a hanging curveball to left for a double that scored Nick Gonzales. Speaking of Gonzales, he enjoyed his 55th two-hit game of the season, which represents most by a Pirate since Andrew McCutchen’s 60 in 2013.
Griffin followed Cook with his second RBI, this one a single that he lined to left on a first-pitch fastball located down and away.
The Tigers sliced the Pirates' lead in half in the seventh inning thanks to a pair of solo home runs. McGonigle connected on a fastball Antwone Kelly left over the middle of the plate.
Then catcher Eduardo Valencia, who hit the walkoff homer Saturday, crushed a changeup down 443 feet to left-center for a mammoth blast.
Around the horn
• Bryan Reynolds became just the seventh Pirate (10th) time in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to play in all of the team’s games in a season and the first since Jason Bay in 2005.
• Antwone Kelly followed Jones and worked 2 1/3 innings, giving up the two home runs. Lake Bachar followed him and struck out four over 1 2/3 scoreless frames.
• The Pirates used 53 players in 2026, their fewest in a full season since 2018 (48 players).
• Pittsburgh won its last game of a season for the first time since 2023.
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.