Pirates Clinch Winning Season With Victory in 2026 Finale
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DETROIT — The Pittsburgh Pirates haven't had much success in recent years, but they achieved one major goal in 2026.
The Pirates finished the 2026 season with a winning record, 82-80, after defeating the Detroit Tigers 4-2 in the series/season finale at Comerica Park on Sept. 27.
Pittsburgh needed at least one win in this series, avoiding a losing season with the 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the PNC Park finale on Sept. 24, but still needed one more victory for a winning season.
It's a solid ending to a 2026 season where the Pirates wanted more, but can build upon for 2027.
Why Clinching a Winning Season is Important
The Pirates haven't had a non-losing season/winning season since 2018, when they went 82-79, marking seven seasons of poor baseball.
It was tied for the second-longest streak in baseball, with only the Los Angeles Angels having more at 11 and the Colorado Rockies at eight this season.
The Pirates came off a poor 71-91 campaign in 2025, the fifth-worst record in baseball and the worst in the National League Central Division.
Pittsburgh now finishes with the third-best record in the division, a winning record and an 11-win improvement from last season.
It is just the fifth winning season in the past 34 years for the Pirates, including their three postseason appearances, 2013-15.
The Pirates set a record for 20 consecutive losing seasons from 1993 to 2012, the most of any professional sports team in the Big 4 leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL).
Pirates manager Don Kelly spoke pregame and said that they want to go and win every they take the field and it would be important to finish with 82 win in 2026.
“We’ve talked about it every day, going 1-0, and today is no different, and that would lead to 82 over 81 and certainly, that’s what we’re going for today," Kelly said. "I think that’s been our mindset and has worked pretty well over this last month, month-and-a-half and just need to finish it off strong today.”
Pirates Looking for More in 2027
The Pirates finished strong in 2026, but the main goal this season was playoff baseball and they didn't achieve that.
Pittsburgh got eliminated from postseason play back on Sept. 18, after fighting in the National League Wild Card race for most of the season.
The Pirates were even in the third Wild Card spot in late July, but seven straight losing series put them six games below .500 and they fell too far behind to make up ground.
Pittsburgh dealt with a bad bullpen, an inconsistent rotation, injuries to their best hitters and also never had a winning streak longer than five games, which would've created separation and allowed them to weather a slump.
The Pirates bring back most of their best players next season, which should result in an even better lineup, a stronger rotation and a bullpen that got better from the trade deadline.
Pirates ace Paul Skenes was disappointed with missing the postseason, but is excited for the future and wants to finally bring playoff baseball to the city in 2027.
"That's cool. We all wanted to play in October," Skenes said after his last start. "Like I said, I think our best baseball is ahead of us, I thought there was a lot of kind of unfortunate stuff that happened this year. Stuff that was just out of our control. Guys getting hurt and stuff like that. I think it'd be a different picture if stuff like that didn't happen. So it's tough.
This is my third year, and every year, at the end, we’re talking about ‘What’s it going to look like for next year,’ and I’m tired of it. We are in a good position for next year, I know that, but it’s gonna be tough to think about that again for a whole offseason.”
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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.