PIRATES

The Pirates did enough offensively to support their pitching staff in scoring six runs over each of the last two nights. The bats had no answer for Kyle Harrison in today's 5-0 loss to the Brewers, though. 

With a fastball that generated 13 of his 23 whiffs and a slurve that served as a devastating secondary offering, Harrison registered a career-high 12 strikeouts and limited the Pirates to just a Marcell Ozuna single over six dominant innings. 

"(He has a) unique fastball, from the left side, mid-90s. We weren’t able to make the adjustment and get it down in the zone," Don Kelly said. "He was throwing it by us pretty good." 

Harrison finished off seven of his strikeouts with the fastball and found plenty of swing and miss with the slurve, too. There were eight whiffs on that pitch and Harrison used it to finish off his other five strikeouts. 

He wasn't the only one who had his strikeout stuff going, though. Trevor Megill, Aaron Ashby and Abner Uribe each posted two strikeouts of their own over an inning apiece out of the bullpen. The Pirates finished with a season-high 18 strikeouts after matching their previous season high with 15 strikeouts over 10 innings in a winning effort on Saturday. They were also held to two hits or fewer for the first time since Sept. 10, 2025 in Baltimore. 

"We had our chances, too," Kelly said, referring to the seventh and eighth innings when they stranded five runners on base. "When you look at the seventh inning, getting two guys on, then eighth inning loading the bases, we’re a couple swings from being right in the thick of it. Just couldn’t get the big hit today."