Pirates Waste Lead in Awful Loss to White Sox
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates took a solid, early lead before faltering later on with a poor bullpen performance in a 10-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox at PNC Park.
Pittsburgh lost 10-1 to Chicago in the series opener on July 18, making this the first series defeat at home since June 20-22 vs. the Texas Rangers.
The Pirates have lost 10 of their past 11 games, which includes road sweeps to the Seattle Mariners, July 4-6 at T-Mobile Park, and the Kansas City Royals, July 7-9 at Kauffman Stadium, plus two losses to the Minnesota Twins.
Pittsburgh drops to 39-60 overall and 26-23 at home, while Chicago improves to 34-65 overall and 13-36 on the road.
Left fielder Tommy Pham opened the bottom of the first inning for the Pirates with a single, before designated hitter Andrew McCutchen grounded into a double play.
Right fielder Bryan Reynolds singled and then second baseman Nick Gonzales did as well, but got tagged out at second base, stretching his hit into a double.
Center fielder Oneil Cruz ledoff the bottom of the second inning with a triple, off of a 112.8 mph hit ball that White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. didn't hustle on, allowing the speedy Cruz to make it into third base safely.
The Pirates failed at bringing Cruz home, as third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes lined out to third base, first baseman Spencer Horwtiz struck out looking and catcher Henry Davis lined out to left field.
Rookie right-handed starting pitcher Mike Burrows dominated for the Pirates over the first four innings, allowing just one walk and posting four strikeouts.
Reynolds and Gonzales ledoff the bottom of the fourth inning with back-to-back singles. Cruz struckout, but Hayes hit a double to the outfield, scoring both Reynolds and Gonzales and giving the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
Horwitz walked, Davis struckout, but shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled, scoring Hayes and making it a 3-0 advantage for the home team.
Burrows finally allowed a hit with one out in the top of the fifth inning, as White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. beat out a throw from Gonzales on a ground ball, which went well wide, putting Robert on second base after the error.
Robert stole third base afterwards and Burrows struckout shortstop Colson Montgomery for the second out,
Burrows then gave up a single to designated hitter Lenyn Sosa, scoring Robert, and a double to third baseman Josh Rojas, scoring Sosa, as the White Sox trimmed their deficit to 3-2.
McCutchen led the bottom of the fifth inning with a single and moved to second base on a passed ball.
Reynolds struckout, but Gonzales hit a ball that went off the right field wall, scoring McCutchen and doubling the Pirates' lead at 4-2.
Burrows didn't come back out for the sixth inning, ending his start after five innings, three hits, two walks and two earned runs allowed, while posting six strikeouts.
Left-handed pitcher Caleb Ferguson came in for the Pirates and got White Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi to pop out to start the top of the sixth inning.
Ferguson then gave up a double to first baseman Miguel Vargas, then back-to-back-to-back singles from catcher Kyle Teel, Robert and pinch-hitter Austin Slater, as the White Sox tied the game at 4-4.
Pirates right-handed pitcher Isaac Mattson came on in relief for Ferguson and hit Sosa, moving pinch-runner Brooks Baldwin to second base.
Mattson struckout Rojas, but then gave up a bases-clearing double to Tauchman, putting the White Sox up 7-4.
He allowed a single to Meidroth, scoring Tauchman, increasing the White Sox lead to 8-4, then walked Benintendi, before Pirates manager Don Kelly made a pitching change, bringing in right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, who got Vargas to groundout and end the inning.
Mlodzinski gave up a leadoff double to Heel in the top of the seventh inning, then walked Robert. Baldwin put down a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners, then Mlodzinski allowed a single to Sosa, scoring the runners and putting the White Sox up 10-4.
This marked the fifth defeat of the season where the Pirates gave up 10 runs or more and the first tme they've lost back-to-back games giving up double-digit runs.
Pittsburgh also had their highest attendance of the season at 38,041, marking their thid sell-out of 2025.
The Pirates will try and avoid the sweep, as they face the White Sox in the series finale on July 20. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.