The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to complete a three-game sweep of the visiting Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon behind Brandon Lowe, who has homered in four of his last five games.
Lowe’s two-run homer in the eighth inning on Saturday lifted Pittsburgh (78-77) to a 6-5 victory over Kansas City (67-88).
The win was the Pirates’ 13th in their last 19 games.
Lowe’s 33rd homer was the 96th hit by the club at home this season, breaking a franchise mark established in 1947. It also was Lowe’s 19th homer at home, eclipsing Brian Giles’ club mark, set in 2001.
“The best part of it is coming out with a win,” Lowe said. “Records are cool, but a win is a whole lot better.”
Even though the Pirates were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday, Lowe said the team has plenty of reasons to compete.
“It’s never too late to get hot,” he said. “It’s a good time to get rolling and keep playing some good baseball … The postseason thing won’t happen, and that stinks. But we are still playing meaningful baseball when it comes to what the future of this organization can do. Winning is a whole lot better than losing.”
Right-hander Lake Bachar (1-4, 3.50 ERA) will start for the Pirates on Sunday despite pitching one scoreless inning of relief on Saturday.
Bachar is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two relief appearances vs. the Royals.
Kansas City will counter with right-hander Michael Wacha (9-9, 3.34 ERA), who will look to add to his career-high innings total.
Wacha, a 14-year veteran, set a career high for innings pitched on Sept. 8. He surpassed his previous mark of 181 1/3 innings, set in 2015 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro praised Wacha — who has 20 quality starts this season — for his consistency.
“You can pencil him in for six (innings) every time out, if not more,” Quatraro said. “… He has got really good stuff, he pitches down with the sinker, up with the four-seamer.”
In his last start, Wacha took the loss, surrendering four runs on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts in a 4-2 road setback against the Houston Astros on Tuesday.
Wacha is 8-3 with a 3.59 ERA in 19 career appearances (17 starts) against the Pirates.
Carter Jensen launched his 25th home run of the season on Saturday, a solo shot in the third inning that established a rookie home run standard for the Royals. Bob Hamelin had held the record since 1994.
“He’s a good player; I’m happy for him and his family,” Quatraro said of Jensen. “That’s an accomplishment that is going to be there for a long time, I imagine. The future is extremely bright for him.”
–Field Level Media
