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Photo by Matt Lynch, Pittsburgh Baseball Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Matt Lynch, Pittsburgh Baseball Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cYinzerpalooza 2026\u201d has been a lot like \u201cYinzerpalooza 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just like last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates hosted a team from Chicago.<\/p>\n
Just like last year, fans lined up from sea to shining sea Saturday night to get a bobblehead.<\/p>\n
Just like last year, the Pirates lost the first two games of the weekend and got embarrassed in the second one. They lost 10-4 to the Chicago White Sox <\/a>in 2025 and 11-0 to the crosstown Cubs<\/a> in 2026.<\/p>\n Despite the similarities, this year\u2019s \u201cpalooza\u201d has been worse.<\/p>\n Much worse.<\/p>\n By late July last year, the Pirates were already dead.<\/p>\n They came into the White Sox series 39-58. Whether they swept or got swept (the latter ended up happening) wouldn\u2019t have made much of a difference in the standings.<\/p>\n This year, Yinzerpalooza coincided with a playoff race.<\/p>\n The Pirates ended the weekend one game out of the National League\u2019s third wildcard spot, and when they loaded the bases with no outs and a 1-0 lead Friday night, it looked like this could be the start of something big.<\/p>\n Indeed, it might have been, but for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n The Pirates didn\u2019t score the rest of the inning, keeping the Cubs in the game which they eventually won, 3-2, in extras.<\/a><\/p>\n Still, with All-Stars Paul Skenes<\/a> and Braxton Ashcraft <\/a>pitching the next two days, the Pirates were in a decent spot to take the series and go into next week\u2019s three-game set with the Diamondbacks in a good place.<\/p>\n But an up-and-down night from Skens (five earned runs and 11 strikeouts over 5.1 innings), another rocky outing from the bullpen (six earned runs over 3.2 innings) and an offense that only got one runner to second base combined for an 11-0 loss before 39,105 fans, the largest crowd to see a game since July 20, 2024 (also during Yinzerpalooza Weekend).<\/p>\n It felt like half of those fans were cheering for the Cubs. By the end of the night, PNC Park felt like Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n Ok, that\u2019s the bad news.<\/p>\n The good news is that these 2026 Pirates have had several instances where it felt like a downward spiral was imminent.<\/p>\n It could have started to go south at the end of April. The St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> came to town and swept the Bucs in four games.<\/p>\n The Pirates responded by sweeping the Cincinnati Reds.<\/a><\/p>\n In May, the Pirates suffered a weekend sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies,<\/a> losing the last two games a combined 12-0.<\/p>\n They responded by taking two of three from the Cards in Busch Stadium.<\/p>\n Most recently, the Pirates led the Cleveland Guardians<\/a> 3-0 in the Bottom of the 8th at Progressive Field, on the verge of a doubleheader sweep and a five-game winning streak.<\/p>\n They lost that game. But they won 7-1 the next day to take the series and, again, show the ability to, to quote Ted Lasso, \u201cbe a goldfish,\u201d meaning they had no memory.<\/p>\n Now, a week after that Cleveland loss, the Pirates are still right there in the race. They\u2019re two games behind Arizona for the last playoff spot, and they\u2019re right in the thick of it despite four of their regular starters\u2013 Oneil Cruz, Konnor Griffin, Spencer Horwitz and Endy Rodriguez\u2013 being on the injured list.<\/p>\n The later the season gets, the more these setbacks are magnified. But for Skenes, the timing does change the urgency.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d Skenes told reporters after Saturday\u2019s loss. \u201cI think we do a really good job of blocking out the noise. I\u2019ll ask guys where we\u2019re at. Nobody really knows a lot of the time where we\u2019re at in the standings or stuff like that. I think a lot of guys just don\u2019t pay attention to it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pirates fanbase can\u2019t help but pay attention. It remembers what happened the last time the Pirates were in contention this late in the year.<\/p>\n In 2024, the Bucs were right in the hunt.<\/p>\n But dropping two of three to Arizona on a weekend series at home launched a 10-game losing streak.<\/p>\n Jared Triolo was on that team and was also on the 2023 and \u201925 Pirates, who were effectively out of the hunt by August.<\/p>\n He feels this team is different.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, for sure,\u201d Triolo told Pittsburgh Baseball Now after the game. \u201cWe have a lot of new faces and they fit right in. Some good pickups and, yeah, I mean, they\u2019ve been playing really well.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pirates\u2019 two best pickups were Brandon Lowe<\/a> and Ryan O\u2019Hearn<\/a>. <\/p>\n Yes, they\u2019ve been very good.<\/p>\n Lowe is one of the best offensive second basemen in the game, already with 21 homers, 65 RBI and an OPS of .780, which is 10 points above the league average.<\/p>\n Lowe also knows what it takes to get to the playoffs. He helped the Tampa Bay Rays to a World Series appearance in 2020.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hearn came into the night with an .801 OPS, hitting .277 with 16 homers and 64 RBI.<\/p>\n He also has playoff experience, having made the postseason in each of the last three seasons.<\/p>\n Both are big reasons why the Pirates have scored the second most runs in baseball, and both have scuffled recently.<\/p>\n Since the All-Star break, Lowe is hitting .143, and aside from one historic night, O\u2019Hearn\u2019s month of July has amounted to no homers and three RBI.<\/p>\n Manager Don Kelly <\/a>expressed confidence in both to bounce back when talking with media before Saturday\u2019s loss.<\/p>\n After the game, laid out what the Pirates have to do.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to find a way,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve shown this year the ability to be able to bounce back and be resilient, and we need to do that tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n Tomorrow refers to Sunday, where the Pirates will look to salvage a game.<\/p>\n The good news is that the Pirates have Ashcraft going against Jameson Taillon, a former Pirate who is 2-5, has a 5.38 ERA and, perhaps most importantly, isn\u2019t a left-handed pitcher like his teammates Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga, who allowed a single run over 13 combined innings against Pittsburgh\u2019s lefty-heavy offense Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the type of game a playoff team should win, and Skenes believes that\u2019s what the Pirates are.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we play our game, play the way we should, we\u2019re a playoff team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be right where we should come October.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned in this article: Paul Skenes<\/a> Pittsbugh Pirates<\/a> <\/p>\n