Pirates Again Doomed By Long Ball, Suffer Sixth Straight Loss
Salvador Perez’s eighth-inning home run off Isaac Mattson handed the Pittsburgh Pirates their sixth straight loss after falling 4-3 to the Kansas City Royals at Kaufman Stadium on Wednesday night.
How We Got There
The Royals (46-48) hit a pair of homers off Bailey Falter to build a three-run lead. Perez hit a solo shot to center in the second, and Jac Caglianone hit a mammoth two-run homer that measured 466 feet to center two innings later.
Royals starter Kris Bubic held the Pirates (38-56) in check until the sixth inning. Oneil Cruz grounded out with the bases loaded to bring home a run, and Ke’Bryan Hayes evened the score with a two-run single to left with two outs.
The score remained the same until the eighth inning, when Perez belted his second home run of the game off Mattson (2-1), who suffered his first-career loss.
After going 6-0 on their most recent homestand, the Pirates are now 0-6 on the current road trip.
Key Moment
After tying the game in the sixth, the Pirates had the go-ahead run on second base with two outs in the seventh, but Andrew McCutchen bounced out to first. The Pirates haven’t scored four runs in any game during the road trip.
Star of the Game
This was the 19th-career multi-homer game for Salvador Perez and his second of the season. He hit two against the Texas Rangers on June 17.
Stat to Know
The Royals entered this series with 15 home runs at Kaufman Stadium this season. They hit nine in three games against the Pirates.
Notable Performances
- Bailey Falter: 4.2 innings, six hits, three runs, two walks, three strikeouts, 74 pitches/50 strikes
- Braxton Ashcraft: 2.1 innings, three hits, no runs, no walks, three strikeouts, 45 pitches/32 strikes
- Tommy Pham: 3 for 4, one double, one run
- Ke’Bryan Hayes: 1 for 4, two RBI
Noteworthy
- After finishing third among MLB starters in May with a 0.76 ERA in six starts, Bailey Falter has a 5.17 ERA in seven starts since the beginning of June.
- Tommy Pham is batting .444 (20 for 45) with four doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI in his last 12 games since June 22. He’s raised his batting average from .194 to .250 in the process.
- Bryan Reynolds notched his 900th career hit with a base hit in the sixth. He became the 47th player in Pirates’ history to reach 900 hits.
Up Next
The Pirates are off on Thursday before they face the Twins in Minnesota on Friday night. All-Star RHP Paul Skenes (4-7, 1.94 ERA) will make one more start before the break. RHP Joe Ryan (8-4, 2.76 ERA) starts for the Twins. First pitch: 8:10 p.m.
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