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PIRATES 4, TIGERS 3
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Brandon Lowe homered off Detroit closer Kenley Jansen with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday.
Rafael Flores Jr. homered twice for Pittsburgh, including a tying shot off Jansen (3-5) with one out in the ninth. Lowe followed two batters later with a towering shot to right field that clanged high off the foul pole.
The homer was the 27th this season for Lowe, the most in club history by a second baseman. It was the 83rd this year by the Pirates at PNC Park, the most at the venue since it opened in 2001.
Mason Montgomery (5-3) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth as the Pirates went 4-2 during a six-game homestand against Boston and Detroit.
Pirates ace Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young winner, allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings with four walks and five strikeouts. The towering 6-foot-6 right-hander has a 5.05 ERA over his last 16 starts dating to May 17.
The Pirates gave Skenes a full week to recover following a loss to Miami in which his fastball velocity dipped to 95 mph, well below the standard he set during the first two years of his career and a tick off from the upper-90s that had been the norm most of this season.
While Skenes did look a little fresher -- he touched 98 mph and frequently was in the 96-97 range -- his command remained scattershot. He threw 46 of his 81 pitches for strikes and was pulled after giving up an RBI single to Gleyber Torres with one out in the fifth.
It was the sixth time Skenes failed to pitch at least five innings this season. He had five starts of fewer than five innings pitched across his first two years in the majors combined.
Kevin McGonigle drove in two runs for the Tigers, who have lost five of six.
Up next: Pirates begin a nine-game road trip on Friday in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
METS 4, PADRES 2
NEW YORK (AP) -- Carson Benge hitting a two-run homer to conclude an impressive series, helping the New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres 4-2 on Wednesday.
The fourth-inning homer was the 15th of the season for Benge, who is the first Mets rookie with at least 15 homers and 15 steals since fellow right fielder Darryl Strawberry in 1983.
Benge threw out two runners at the plate in the first inning of Monday’s 2-1 win. He has nine assists this season, including five since Aug. 4 -- a span in which the Mets are 11-4 despite a massive sell-off at the trade deadline.
Jared Young capped a two-run eighth with an RBI single.
Nate Lavender (1-0) was credited with the win after retiring all three batters he faced in the sixth. Lavender. Jefry Yan and Jonathan Pintaro all earned their first big league victories on the six-game homestand.
Kodai Senga allowed Gavin Sheets’ pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth before locking down his fourth save in four opportunities in place of the injured Devin Williams.
Mets starter Robert Stock allowed one run and struck out six in 4 1/3 innings. He didn’t allow a hit until Xander Bogaerts led off the fifth with a double.
Fernando Tatis Jr. had an RBI double for the Padres, who entered Wednesday with a two-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the race for the last National League playoff spot.
Michael King (8-9) gave up two runs and struck out four in 6 2/3 innings.
RANGERS 5, NATIONALS 0
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Cal Quantrill gave up four hits in seven innings, Justin Foscue hit a home run and the Texas Rangers beat the Washington Nationals 5-0 on Tuesday night.
Quantrill (5-4) struck out five and did not issue a walk.
Foscue hit a 400-foot home run over the left field wall in the second inning to give Texas a 2-0 lead.
Wyatt Langford scored the first run of the game on Jake Burger’s double-play groundout in the first.
The Rangers added three more runs in the third.
Langford scored on Brandon Nimmo’s fielder’s choice to make it 3-0. The Nationals challenged the call, but the decision was upheld after a review. Corey Seager scored after Foscue was walked with the bases loaded and Corey Freeman hit an RBI single to make it 5-0.
The Nationals came close to scoring in the eighth inning after Nasim Nuñez singled and pinch-hitter Andrés Chaparro hit a ground-rule double to put runners in scoring position with two outs. Jakob Junis came in to pitch and struck out José Tena on three pitches to end the inning and leave the runners stranded.
Nationals starter Jackson Kent (0-1) pitched 3 2/3 innings, giving up eight hits and five earned runs. He struck out and walked three.
Trevor Williams pitched the next 3 1/3 innings, striking out five. Washington has now lost five straight games.
CARDINALS 3, REDS 0
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Masyn Winn hit a home run and doubled twice and Kyle Leahy gave up three hits and struck out six in five innings as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Riley O’Brien pitched the ninth for his 32nd save. It was the 12th time the Reds have been shut out this season and the Cardinals’ ninth shutout win.
It’s the first time Winn had two doubles in a game since July 28, 2025 against the Marlins.
Cardinals left fielder Joshua Báez went 0 for 3 with an RBI on a sacrifice fly. He’s now 0 for 17 with seven strikeouts since his three-homer day at Wrigley Field on Saturday.
Leahy (10-4) threw 90 pitches. It was his 10th straight start allowing two earned runs or fewer.
Winn’s homer off left-hander Andrew Abbott (6-8) in the fifth put the Cardinals ahead 1-0. It was Winn’s fifth homer of the season and his first since July 3. It was also the first homer allowed by Abbott in 23 1/3 innings dating to July 26.
Winn’s second double came with one out in the seventh. He scored when José Fermín followed with a double to make the score 2-0.
Abbott, who surrendered one hit and didn’t walk a batter through the first 4 1/3 innings, allowed two earned runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out six in 6 1/3 innings.
Jordan Walker singled and scored on Báez’s sacrifice fly to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 3-0 in the eighth.