Nine games to wipe out seven years
76 wins, 77 losses. Pittsburgh has nine regular-season games left and one number in mind: even. The club has not closed a year at .500 or better since 2018.
Eight games out of a playoff spot with nine to play, the math stopped mattering weeks ago. Pride is what is left, and pride tends to do more work in a September clubhouse than anyone outside it credits.
Thursday brought a 7-4 win over Milwaukee. The National League Central champions, no less. Pittsburgh actually took the season series from the Brewers, seven games to six.
“They won the division, and that’s where we’re trying to get to,” manager Don Kelly said. “We played well against them this season.”
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Skenes draws a hometown kid
Paul Skenes gets the ball Friday night to open the three-game set. Ten wins, 11 losses, a 3.78 ERA. Nobody drew that up a year after a National League Cy Young. He still leads the club in strikeouts with 185, and he has never seen Kansas City.
Randy Dobnak goes the other way, 3-4 with a 2.73 ERA. He grew up in the Pittsburgh suburbs. His one career start against the Pirates came in this city, August 5, 2020, six scoreless innings. Last time out was messier: three runs in 5 2/3 against Boston on Saturday.
Kansas City is already auditioning for 2027
The Royals come in at 67-86, losers of four of five. Houston took them 6-2 on Thursday and took the series with it. Pennsylvania closes out their road schedule, with six home games to follow.
So the roster is being sorted through. Daniel Lynch IV threw five scoreless in Houston on Wednesday, two hits allowed, and has pitched his way into the conversation for next year’s rotation. “I was really happy, especially with how I was commanding my four-seam fastball,” he told MLB.com. He mixed all five pitches, which is what he does when it is working.
Pittsburgh’s September already has one entry in the record book. The club broke its single-season home run mark Thursday night, Henry Davis hitting number 175.
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