Last Night In Baseball: Pirates Win Series Against Cardinals In St. Louis

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves. Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: Raise the Jolly Roger in enemy territory. By defeating the St. Louis Cardinals on the road, 6-2, the Pittsburgh Pirates took two out of three games from their National League Central foe. Second baseman Brandon Lowe got the offense started for Pittsburgh with a solo home run in the top of the first inning, with right fielder Jake Mangum driving in a run on a force-out in the fourth. Then, in the sixth, Pirates designated hitter Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run single, with catcher Henry Davis leading off the seventh with a solo home run and left fielder Bryan Reynolds driving in a run on a ground out later in the inning. Lowe and Ozuna each had two hits for the Pirates, who got a plausible, seven-inning start from Braxton Ashcraft; the right-hander posted nine strikeouts and gave up just one run and six baserunners (four hits and two walks), with the one run being a solo home run by Cardinals designated hitter Ivan Herrera. Eight of nine Pittsburgh starters recorded a hit, with the one who didn’t (Reynolds) driving in a run. Through 10 starts this season, Ashcraft has recorded a 2.89 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP, a 145 ERA+ and 65 strikeouts across 62 ⅓ innings pitched. Ashcraft has pitched through the seventh inning in four of his last six starts and pitched through the sixth inning in seven of his 10 starts. Pittsburgh averaged 6.3 runs per game in the three-game series and held St. Louis to a combined two runs over the last two games, which were each Pirates’ wins. The back-to-back wins for the Pirates came in the wake of four consecutive losses. These are now part of everyday life, apparently. Regarding the Pirates’ first home run, it was actually an inside-the-park homer off the bat of Lowe, who hit a fly ball off the top of the left-field wall, and it bounced out enough for him to touch all four bags and score while jogging into home plate. Lowe’s homer marked the sixth official inside-the-park home run of the 2026 MLB season. On the year, Lowe, a two-time All-Star, has totaled a team-high 13 home runs — which is tied for eighth in MLB — 32 RBIs, a 150 OPS+ and 2.0 wins above replacement, while sporting a .256/.348/.558 slash line. His .558 slugging percentage ranks ninth in MLB and his .906 OPS ranks 15th. The Toronto Blue Jays lost Games 1 and 2 of a four-game series against the New York Yankees in the Bronx, but they won the last two and shut down their American League East rival in the process. After getting six shutout innings from right-hander Trey Yesavage in a 2-1 win on Wednesday night, the Blue Jays beat the Yankees on Thursday night, 2-0, to salvage a series split. Toronto used five pitchers (Braydon Fisher, Adam Macko, Spencer Miles, Tyler Rogers and Jeff Hoffman) to get the win, highlighted by 4 ⅓ innings of relief from Miles, who recorded six strikeouts. The bats were mute but effective enough for the Blue Jays to get back-to-back wins, with their Thursday night offense coming on a first-inning RBI double from center fielder Daulton Varsho and a seventh-inning solo home run from designated hitter George Springer. Meanwhile, infielder Ernie Clement, who boasts a team-high .296 batting average, had a game-high three hits, which was the total number of hits that the Yankees had. After missing the first month of the season due to a shoulder injury, Yesavage has been fantastic for Toronto, posting a 1.07 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, 29 strikeouts, a 415 ERA+ and 1.5 wins above replacement over his first five starts (25 ⅓ innings). Despite being just 23-27, the Blue Jays have won four of their last six games and are just 1.5 games behind the Texas Rangers for the third AL wild-card seed. The Cleveland Guardians are rocking. By beating the Detroit Tigers on the road, 3-1, the Guardians finished off a four-game sweep of the AL Central opponent and earned their sixth consecutive win and ninth win in 10 games. Cleveland got its first two runs on an RBI double from third baseman Daniel Schneemann and an RBI single from designated hitter José Ramírez in the top of the third. Later, in the eighth, catcher Patrick Bailey uncorked a solo home run to right-center field, which marked his first homer with the Guardians since being acquired from the San Francisco Giants earlier this month. Elsewhere, shortstop Brayan Rocchio, who owns a team-high .290 batting average, went 3 for 3, including two doubles. Detroit got its lone run on a leadoff home run from catcher Dillon Dingler in the bottom of the eighth. Outside that blemish, the Guardians’ pitching staff held the Tigers in check, with six pitchers — beginning with 5 ⅔ innings from left-hander Joey Cantillo — surrendering just one run and six hits and logging a combined 13 strikeouts. Through 11 starts, Cantillo owns a 3.05 ERA and a 134 ERA+. Cleveland (30-22) has a 3.5-game lead on the Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central. After losing back-to-back games in the series, the New York Mets managed to win on Thursday, 2-1, to get a four-game series split on the road with the Washington Nationals. In the top of third, shortstop Bo Bichette drove in two runs on a single up the middle, and it would ultimately be just enough for the Mets to get the win. The Mets used five pitchers, with Huascar Brazobán, Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams combining for four scoreless innings of relief, with them surrendering just two baserunners (one hit and one walk) after starter David Peterson pitched five innings. The Nationals’ got their one run on an RBI ground out from first baseman Andrés Chaparro in the bottom of the fifth. New York (22-28) has won seven of its last 10. Bichette, who’s in the first season of a three-year, $126 million deal with the Mets, struggled immensely out of the gate, but could he be turning a corner? Over his last four games, Bichette, who entered this week hitting .210, has totaled three home runs and nine RBIs, while posting a .389/.421/.944 slash line. He had three hits in the team’s 16-7 extra-inning victory over the Nationals on Monday and hit a pair of two-run home runs on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Bichette was previously a two-time All-Star and the primary shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays from 2020-25 (he was called up during the 2019 season), but he was signed by the Mets to play third base. With that said, as star shortstop Francisco Lindor recovers from a calf injury, Bichette has dabbled at shortstop, making 17 starts at his natural position (short) and 32 starts at third. Bichette currently sports a career-low in batting average (.225) and on-base percentage (.276), but he has driven in a team-high 27 runs. After an almost no-hitter turned into being walked off by the Los Angeles Angels on Monday, the Athletics won three consecutive games over the Halos. Granted, it took an extra frame for a second consecutive night on Thursday. Los Angeles drew first blood in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run from first baseman Nolan Schanuel. The Athletics got on the board in the top of the sixth on an RBI single from first baseman Nick Kurtz and tied the game at 2-all in the seventh on an RBI single from infielder Darell Hernáiz. Both teams went scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings, and the A’s got the ghost runner to score in the top of the 10th, as third baseman Zack Gelof brought in a run on a force-out. And, despite giving up a leadoff single that put the tying run at third base with nobody out, reliever Mark Leiter Jr. kept the Angels off the board in the bottom half of the inning, with the right-hander getting Jorge Soler to ground into a double-play to finish off a 3-2 Athletics victory. The A’s got seven innings from starter Luis Severino, with the veteran totaling 10 strikeouts and giving up just two runs and three baserunners (three hits). Michael Harris II is having a season. With a runner on first in the top of the first, the Atlanta Braves’ center fielder hit a two-run home run and later blasted a solo homer in the ninth as part of a 9-3 win over the Miami Marlins; Atlanta took three out of four in the road series. Meanwhile, Braves left fielder Mike Yastrzemski went 3 for 3 with a solo home run and a double and outfielders Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mauricio Dubón each had two-run singles. On the mound, Braves starter Spencer Strider recorded nine strikeouts over 6 ⅓ innings; he gave up three runs. Back to Harris, the Braves’ outfielder has two hits in each of the last three games, including a combined three home runs over that span. Through 48 games, Harris has totaled 11 home runs, 29 RBIs, a 139 OPS+ and 1.7 wins above replacement, while boasting a .298/.324/.524 slash line. He has also posted five defensive runs saved in center field. Moreover, Harris ranks in the 98th percentile of MLB in hard-hit percentage (56.7%), the 97th percentile in average exit velocity (93.9 mph) and the 95th percentile in barrel percentage (17.3%), according to Statcast. Folks, this may be the best team in baseball. At 35-16 (68.6% winning percentage), the Braves, who missed the playoffs for the first time in eight years last season at 76-86, have the best record in the NL, the second-best record in the sport (the Tampa Bay Rays are 33-15, good for a 68.8% winning percentage) and are 14-1-1 in their series to date. Atlanta’s offense ranks first in MLB in hits (464), batting average (.266) and slugging percentage (.445), second in runs (276) and home runs (72) and sixth in on-base percentage (.329). First baseman Matt Olson leads the NL with 42 RBIs and 16 doubles, while sporting a .569 slugging percentage; catcher Drake Baldwin has totaled 13 home runs, 38 RBIs and 2.3 wins above replacement, while owning a .303/.389/.543 slash line; veteran Dominic Smith boasts a career-high .343 batting average and a .549 slugging percentage, while having totaled 22 RBIs. Meanwhile, its pitching staff (starting rotation and bullpen as a collective) is first in ERA (3.09) and opponent batting average (.206) and second in WHIP (1.13). Left-hander Chris Sale (1.89 ERA and 0.87 WHIP) and right-hander Bryce Elder (2.01 ERA and 0.98 WHIP) are each early NL Cy Young candidates; reliever Dylan Lee owns an 0.77 ERA across 23 ⅓ innings; free-agent signee Robert Suárez has given up one run over 21 ⅓ innings; closer Raisel Iglesias hasn’t surrendered a run over 14 ⅔ innings. Atlanta’s 9.5-game lead on the Philadelphia Phillies (25-25) for first place in the NL East is the largest gap for a division leader in the sport. Two days after Ketel Marte hit a walk-off, three-run home run, the Arizona Diamondbacks pulled off another ninth-inning walk-off hit. D-backs catcher Gabriel Moreno led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, but a pair of outs followed. Granted, one of them was a sacrifice bunt that moved Moreno to second base. Then, Marte — who had a game-high two hits — walked, and right fielder Corbin Carroll smacked a single to right field, bringing home Moreno for the walk-off run. Carroll, who has a .282/.390/.552 slash line, drove in Arizona’s first run on a sixth-inning force-out, with Colorado scoring a game-tying run in the top of the eighth on a hit-by-pitch. The D-backs got another potent outing from left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez, who threw seven scoreless innings and has now pitched seven-plus innings in three of his last four starts and in four outings altogether this season. Rodríguez has posted a 2.24 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP, a 184 ERA+ and 2.0 wins above replacement across 60 ⅓ innings pitched (10 starts). Arizona (26-23) has won five consecutive games and six of its last seven, putting it just two games behind St. Louis (28-21) for the third NL wild-card seed.