The Pirates spent Friday night chasing the Royals before turning PNC Park into their kind of finish. Pittsburgh erased an early three-run hole, broke a 5-5 tie with a three-run seventh and beat Kansas City 8-5 to begin the final home series of the season.
The win pushed Pittsburgh to 77-77 with eight games remaining. One more victory would give the club its highest win total since 2018, and the Pirates still have a path to their first season above .500 since that year. The larger postseason picture remains difficult, with Pittsburgh nearing an 11th straight October absence, but this was a night when the club’s young core made sure the season still had some life in it.
Paul Skenes did not have his cleanest outing, yielding five runs through the opening four innings, but he avoided taking the loss as the Pirates kept answering. Kansas City struck first on Vinnie Pasquantino’s first-inning solo homer, then added three runs in the third with a string of hits. Michael Massey’s solo shot in the fourth made it 5-2 Royals.
Pittsburgh gradually trimmed that deficit, with Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz supplying much of the traffic. The pair combined for seven hits, and Griffin delivered his third four-hit game in the majors.
The decisive rally came in the seventh. With the score even, Cruz and Nick Gonzales came around on Spencer Horwitz’s single to left, putting Pittsburgh ahead for the first time all evening. Griffin followed by bringing Horwitz home with a base hit, turning a tense tie into an 8-5 Pirates lead.
That sequence gave Skenes a no-decision rather than a loss and handed the Pirates their 77th win. It also left them one victory away from ensuring this season will stand as their best since the 2018 club.
