PITTSBURGH -- It turned out to be a frustrating weekend in the Steel City for the Royals.
Rafael Flores. Jr.’s two-run home run off Nate Pearson in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the Pirates, 4-3, over the Royals on a rainy Sunday afternoon at PNC Park and a sweep of the three-game series. The Royals failed to hold late-inning leads in each game.
“I feel bad for the guys because they really competed hard and we could have won all three games,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “In games like this, people always remember the big hit late in the game, but usually these games are won or lost earlier, and we didn’t capitalize on some opportunities. It was a tough weekend and a tough road trip. We didn’t play our best.”
The Royals wound up going 2-7 on their final trip of the season, losing two of three to the Red Sox and the Astros. The Royals finished the season with a 28-53 road record.
Pearson came on to start the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead and gave up a lead-off single to former Royal Ryan O’Hearn. Flores followed with his 10th homer into the left-field bleachers.
Pearson also took the loss on Friday night in the series opener.
“I just didn’t get the job done,” Pearson said. “It’s frustrating because I felt like I had been throwing the ball well. These are games you have to win."
Vinnie Pasquantino put the Royals ahead 3-2 in the seventh with his first career pinch-hit homer, a two-run drive off Carmen Mlodzinski. Pasquantino was making just the seventh pinch-hitting at-bat of his career, batting for Tyler Tolbert.
“I got prepared early because I wasn’t sure if we would play a full nine innings because of the rain,” Pasquantino said. “So I came inside (to the indoor batting) cages in the third or fourth inning. You never feel totally prepared when you come in and pinch-hit in the middle of the game, but I felt good.”
Starter Michael Wacha was lifted with two outs in the sixth after giving up an RBI single to Spencer Horwitz that put the Pirates ahead 2-1. Wacha threw 113 pitches, his most since 2019, to take some pressure off an overworked bullpen. He gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings.
“As a starting pitcher, you get a sense of when the bullpen needs a break,” Wacha said. “The Pirates really battled and fouled off a lot of good pitches, and ran my pitch count up. But I felt good the whole time. My body never got tired.”
The Royals are off Monday then finish the season with three-game series at Kauffman Stadium against the White Sox and Guardians, teams locked in a tight race for the American League Central title.
“I’m really excited for these last six games because they’re going to be very important,” Quatraro said. “It’s always good to play in meaningful games.”