Flores Jr. Hits Two, Lowe Walks It Off: PIT 4, DET 3
Rafael Flores Jr. went 2-for-2 with two home runs — including a 431-foot shot in the ninth that swung Pittsburgh's win probability from 11% to 59% — and Brandon Lowe followed it immediately with a walk-off blast to right. The Pirates erased a two-run deficit in the final two innings to beat Detroit 4-3.
Pittsburgh looked like it was heading for a quiet loss through the middle innings. Detroit built a 3-1 lead by the fifth, with Gleyber Torres singling home Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle doubling in another run — McGonigle finishing the night with 2 RBI on just one hit. Paul Skenes, meanwhile, was not sharp: 4.1 innings, 4 hits, 3 earned runs, and 4 walks before Pittsburgh's bullpen took over. Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery combined to throw 2.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 4, which kept the Pirates close enough for what was coming.
Flores Jr. opened the comeback in the seventh with a 422-foot home run to left that made it 3-2. Detroit still held the lead heading into the ninth, and Pittsburgh's chances looked bleak — 11% win probability when Flores Jr. stepped in again. He answered with a 431-foot shot to left that tied it at 3, swinging the win probability to 59% in one swing. That's the story of the night right there: a player who appeared twice in the box score and both times changed the game entirely. Lowe then ended it immediately, sending a 359-foot home run to right to give Pittsburgh the 4-3 final. Three consecutive batters, three runs, game over.
Jackson Jobe was solid enough for Detroit — 5.1 innings, 1 earned run, 3 strikeouts — but the Tigers' bullpen couldn't protect a two-run lead in the final two frames. Clark went 2-for-4 and scored a run, and Torres contributed an RBI single, but Detroit's offense went quiet when it mattered most. Pittsburgh's ninth-inning trio of Flores Jr., Flores Jr., and Lowe looks like one of the more stunning late-game sequences of the season. When a team scores three runs in the ninth on back-to-back-to-back home runs to win by one, the margin of the final score doesn't do it justice.