Rafael Flores Jr.'s two-run homer helps Pirates complete a sweep of Royals

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sep 20, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PITTSBURGH — On a rainy, gray Sunday at PNC Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates punctuated a sweep with a bat flip.

Rafael Flores Jr. continued his hot stretch with a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning, leading the Pirates to a 4-3 win against the Kansas City Royals.

Flores flipped his bat as the ball soared toward the left field seats. The Pirates had the game-winning RBI in the seven inning or later in all three games against Kansas City, improving their record to 79-77.

Carmen Mlodzinski had blown a lead on Vinnie Pasquantino’s pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh, but earned the win with three otherwise strong innings of relief.

Flores went 2 for 3, adding a walk and a double. He has hits in 12 of his past 13 games, hitting .426 (20 for 47) in that span.

It was an otherwise sleepy Sunday, with a paid attendance of 14,979 at PNC Park.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the first inning with three consecutive singles, the final by Salvador Perez, against Pirates opener Lake Bachar.

The Pirates responded in the fourth. Oneil Cruz crushed a hanging curveball from Michael Wacha over the center field wall, joining the 20/20 club (20 homers and 20 stolen bases) for the third consecutive year.

They took the lead as rain fell in the sixth. Wacha issued two two-out walks, then Spencer Horwitz blooped a single to center for a 2-1 lead. With a reeling Kansas City bullpen, the 35-year-old Wacha threw 113 pitches, his most since 2019.

Pasquantino put Kansas City ahead in the seventh, crushing a splitter below the zone. But Flores came through against right-hander Nate Pearson to give the Pirates a win.

It was over when …

Mason Montgomery pitched a scoreless ninth, despite Luke Maile’s two-out double and a Jake Mangum error that allowed him to third. But Montgomery got a flyout to end the game.

On the mound

The Pirates used five pitchers in the bullpen game, all but Montgomery and Bachar throwing multiple innings.

Yohan Ramirez struck out four in his two innings. Wilber Dotel allowed one hit and one strikeout, throwing the fourth and the fifth.

At the plate

Flores was the only Pirate to record multiple hits. He’s up to 10 home runs this season.

Cruz is one shy of his career-high in homers despite playing 53 fewer games than he did when he set that mark in 2024.

Up next

The Pirates are off Monday before beginning a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals, their final home series of the year. Right-hander Jared Jones (4-6, 4.17 ERA) will start against Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante (12-7, 3.70).

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