The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 Thursday afternoon, completing play at PNC Park this season. Oneil Cruz and Ronny Simon scored the Pirates runs. Simon scoring the game-winning run in the eighth inning.
Paul Skenes made his final start of the year. He allowed a run on three hits while pitching into the seventh inning. Skenes struck out eight, and ended the year with 200 strikeouts. He became just the second Pirates pitcher in the 145-year history of the team to reach 200 strikeouts in consecutive seasons.
Skenes finishes the year 10-11 overall with a 3.82 ERA.
The victory was the team’s 81st of the year and guarantees the Pirates will finish the season at .500 or above. It is their first non-losing season since 2018.
The Pirates complete their season with three games in Detroit. Game time tonight is 6:40pm. Bubba Chandler will start for the Bucs.
The Bucs and Tigers play at 1:10pm Saturday afternoon. WISR pre-game begins at 12:45pm. The Pirates will likely go with opener Lake Bachar. The Tigers will give Justin Verlander the final start of his career.
The two teams complete their seasons Sunday at 3:10pm. Jared Jones will start for the Pirates.
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