The Pirates have made this September interesting by playing a better brand of baseball, passing the baton on offense, enjoying strong pitching performances and generating some level of optimism for 2027.
Wednesday was an exception.
Relying on another bullpen game, the Pirates couldn’t get anything going against a left-handed starter and fell, 5-1, to the Cardinals at PNC Park, evening the penultimate series of their season at a game apiece.
Pittsburgh had a chance to guarantee a .500 finish. It also could’ve won a third straight series against St. Louis, something that has only happened three times since the NL Central was formed in 1994. The Pirates lost their chance to finish with a winning record against the NL Central for just the third time; they're now 25-26 with one game left.
The loss occurred because Brandon Eisert and Khristian Curtis allowed a combined five runs over two innings, while the Pirates couldn’t do much against Matthew Liberatore and three Cardinals relievers.
As a result, the Pirates are 80-78 on the season, 5-3 on the homestand and 13-7 in September, suffering a rare dud of a loss this month and snapping their season-high-tying five-game losing streak.
Before the Cardinals struck for five runs in the third and fourth innings, Brandon Lowe staked the Pirates to a 1-0 lead in the second with his 34th homer of the season, a solo shot deep into the right-field seats.
Already with the most homers since Josh Bell hit 37 in 2019, Lowe hammered a 1-1 fastball left middle-middle from Cardinals lefty starter Matthew Liberatore, cranking it 434 feet at 108.4 mph.
The homer gave Lowe 282 total bases on the season, establishing a new career-high. It was also the fourth homer in the past 15 games for Lowe.
However, that’s right about when the Cardinals’ bats got hot, St. Louis registering six hits over those two pivotal innings.
First baseman Alec Burleson tied the game with his line drive to left on a waning slider. Designated hitter Ivan Herrera scored on a wild pitch when Curtis bounced a curveball before catcher Leo Bernal grounded an elevated cutter into right field for another run-scoring single, resulting in a 3-1 Cardinals lead.
Shortstop Masyn Winn, the No. 9 hitter, got Curtis on a cutter that basically middle-middle, doubling to center to make it a 4-1 game. Mars native JJ Wetherholt extended the Cardinals’ lead to 5-1 with his single to right on a four-seamer that was up and away.
The three earned runs charged to Eisert snapped a stretch of seven consecutive scoreless appearances, reaching 10 2/3 innings before the Burleson single.
To his credit, Curtis settled things down after a rocky start. He navigated the fifth and sixth, allowing only a hit and a walk while striking out two.
In the process, Curtis joined Charlie Case (1904-05, first eight appearances) as the only Pirates in the Modern Era (since 1901) to pitch at least 3.0 innings in each of his first six more career relief appearances.
Around the horn
With his strikeout of Burleson in the first, Lake Bachar notched the franchise record for punchouts in a season. With 10 more Wednesday, the Pirates now have 1,453. … Ryan O’Hearn enjoyed his third game this season with multiple doubles. ... Despite the result, the Pirates enjoyed several stellar defensive plays. Jared Triolo leaned over the dugout railing to catch a foul pop in the second. Rafael Flores Jr. threw out another runner. And Bryan Reynolds dove to rob center fielder Nathan Church in the eighth, resulting in a double play.
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.