Ronny Simon and Jake Mangum help Pirates snap their losing streak with a beatdown of the Mets

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Aug 8, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PITTSBURGH — Josh Harrison threw a perfect ceremonial first pitch before Saturday’s game. It was a sign of things to come.

Just about everything went right for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who ended a four-game losing streak with an 9-0 hammering of the New York Mets on Saturday night at PNC Park. After Harrison’s first pitch, the Pirates scored eight runs in four innings against Mets starter Robert Stock while starter Bubba Chandler threw six shutout innings of his own.

Catcher Luis Torrens pitched the final two innings for New York, giving up a Brandon Lowe homer in the eighth on a 42 mph eephus.

Former Mets prospect Jake Mangum went 3 for 5, doubling twice, scoring twice and driving in a run. Nick Gonzales went 1 for 5 with a double and three RBIs. Ronny Simon went 2 for 5 with a double, a run scored, two RBIs and his first stolen base of the year.

The Pirates capitalized against Stock, a 36-year-old making just his second major league appearance of the season and fourth MLB appearance since 2021. In three-plus innings, he was charged with eight runs, all earned, on nine hits and five walks. He struck out four.

It started with a three-run first. Mangum started the bottom half of the inning with a double off the top of the right-field wall, firing up the crowd on second, then scored on Gonzales’ bases-loaded groundout. Simon, batting left-handed, kept his grounder just inside of the third base bag for a two-run double.

Jacob Gonzalez scored Simon with an RBI single in the third. It unraveled for Stock in the fourth, as Mangum scored Henry Davis with an RBI double before Stock issued three consecutive walks and a wild pitch. After Gonzales scored two with a double, Mets manager Andy Green had finally seen enough.

Chandler largely cruised through his six innings, never letting a runner reach second in his six innings. Lake Bachar pitched two scoreless innings, facing the minimum with three strikeouts, before Kirby Yates finished the win.

The Pirates remain three games under .500, the result of going 5-11 to start a stretch of 17 games in 17 days. They’ll finish that stretch on Sunday.

It was over when …

Chandler never let the Mets into the game. The Mets went 0 for 0 with runners in scoring position. They left just three runners on, all on first base.

On the mound

Chandler had one of the best starts of his career, managing the game and pitching simply. He issued just one walk, striking out five.

He got some defensive help, as Davis caught Luis Robert Jr. stealing in the third. But otherwise, it was all him. He allowed three hits, all singles, and didn’t issue any free passes until the sixth.

Chandler threw 85 pitches, 58 for strikes. If the Pirates hadn’t led by eight at the time, he could have been left in for the seventh.

The Mets issued nine walks. The Pirates issued just one.

At the plate

The Pirates racked up 12 hits, leaving 12 runners on base. Spencer Horwitz was the lone starter to go hitless, and he walked twice and was hit by a pitch.

Esmerlyn Valdez was dropped to seventh in the lineup in the midst of a slump. He walked three times and recorded his first hit of August in the eighth, a single off of Torrens.

Bucs bites

— Catcher Endy Rodriguez was scratched from the pregame lineup with left hip discomfort. Davis went 2 for 4 with a walk and a run in his place.

— Right-hander Mitch Keller spoke in the clubhouse pregame, officially confirming his teres major muscle strain will be season-ending. He won’t throw for the next eight weeks. It’s his first arm injury in 12 years and first time on the injured list in six seasons.

He plans to be around, hoping to bring some “positive vibes” and experience to the team over the next few weeks. He also plans to work on his mechanics to prevent any further injuries next season.

“Obviously this is a [crappy] thing to have happen,” Keller said, “but I'm gonna use the time that I have off to get my body right, get my hips right and strengthen up the areas I need to to have a really good delivery that I want to have going into next year.”

Up next

The Pirates will play for a series victory, which would snap a streak of five consecutive losing series, at 1:35 p.m. ET Sunday. Jared Jones (2-3, 4.02 ERA) will face Mets lefty Sean Manaea (3-5, 4.33).

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