Fastball

Pittsburgh Pirates Make Incredibly Wild History in Near-Sweep of Houston Astros

The Pittsburgh Pirates lost on Wednesday to the Houston Astros but they still won the series two games-to-one. In that series win, Pittsburgh became the only team in history to accomplish this rare feat.

Brady Farkas

Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds (10) hits a single against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning at PNC Park in 2024.
Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds (10) hits a single against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning at PNC Park in 2024. / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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The Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the Houston Astros on Wednesday night but still ended up winning the series against the reigning American League West champions.

It was a huge series win for Pittsburgh, who is trying to stay alive in the National League wild card race. They are currently 55-53 on the season and 2.5 games back in that race. They trail the Diamondbacks, Mets, and Cardinals, who are all ahead of them and vying for the third and final spot. The Braves and Padres currently have the top two spots.

What's so crazy is not just that the Pirates took a series from the Astros, it's how they did it.

Per @OptaSTATS, the Pirates made history in the three games:

The Pirates are the only MLB team in the modern era to strike out 35+ times and commit 8+ errors in a 3-game series with no extra-inning games.

They still won the series (and nearly swept).

That's not quite how you'd draw it up if you were Pirates management, but you'll take it at this point of the year. The Pirates will look to clean it up in another big series this weekend. They'll take on that same Diamondbacks team that they are chasing at PNC Park. The series begins on Friday night at 6:40 p.m. ET as Diamondbacks second-year pitcher Brandon Pfaadt will go up against Luis Ortiz.

Pfaadt is 5-6 on the season with a 3.92 ERA while Ortiz is 5-2 with a 2.75. Paul Skenes will pitch on Sunday.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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