Brandon Lowe hit a game-ending home run two batters after Rafael Flores Jr. went deep to tie it as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied for a 4-3 victory over the visiting Detroit Tigers on Wednesday afternoon.
Both home runs came off Tigers right-hander Kenley Jansen (3-5), with Lowe ending the game by going deep on a 1-2 cutter with two outs for his 27th of the season. It was the first time Jansen allowed multiple home runs in a relief appearance since May 2, 2025, when he gave up three to the Tigers as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.
Flores’s game-tying home run with one out left Jansen with his fifth blown save of the season. It was Flores’ second home run of the game after entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh.
Paul Skenes gave up three runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings for Pittsburgh, while the four relievers held Detroit scoreless over the final 4 2/3 innings as left-hander Mason Montgomery (5-3) earned the win.
Kevin McGonigle drove in a pair of runs for the Tigers, while right-hander Jackson Jobe gave up one run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single from Oneil Cruz, who was playing in his second game since returning from broken bones in his left hand.
McGonigle tied it 1-1 for the Tigers with a fly ball in the third inning. Detroit went up 3-1 in the fifth on an RBI single from Gleyber Torres and a run-scoring double from McGonigle. Torres was thrown out at home on McGonigle’s double.
Flores’ first home run of the game came in the seventh inning to get the Pirates within 3-2.
Skenes exited with one out in the fifth after 81 pitches. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner pitched five innings or fewer for the fifth consecutive start.
–Field Level Media
