HOUSTON — The Pittsburgh Pirates lost a game they seemed to have under control, falling 11-9 to the Astros on June 3 after allowing six runs in the eighth inning and surrendering a 9-5 lead. The defeat ended Pittsburgh’s four-game winning streak and turned what had been a power-filled night into a painful collapse at Daikin Park.
Nick Gonzales gave the Pirates the kind of production that usually wins games, homering twice and driving in three runs, while Henry Davis hit a grand slam as Pittsburgh scored nine runs. But the burst was not enough once Houston broke through in the eighth, when Christian Vazquez doubled to drive in Nick Allen, the Astros tied it 9-9 on a wild pitch by Soto on ball four to Yordan Alvarez, and Yordan Alvarez kept pressing in a game in which he finished with four hits.
The matchup had been billed as a strong pitching test before first pitch at 8:10 p.m. Eastern, with Paul Skenes listed for Pittsburgh and Spencer Arrighetti set to start for Houston. Skenes, 6-5 with a 2.89 ERA, lasted 4 2/3 innings, while Arrighetti came in at 7-1 with a 1.34 ERA. SportsNet Pittsburgh and Space City Home Network carried the game on television, Pirates Radio Network handled radio and SiriusXM 176/861 was listed for satellite coverage.
What made the loss sting even more was the scale of the offensive night Pittsburgh wasted. The Pirates had scored at least nine runs in four straight games for the first time since 1928, a run of offense that pointed to a lineup finally finding its rhythm. Instead, the eighth inning flipped everything. The Astros scored six runs in the frame, with Paredes adding a two-run homer, and a game that had sat at 9-5 quickly turned into a one-run hole, then a tie, then a loss.
For Pittsburgh, the unanswered question is not whether the bats are alive — they are — but how a four-run lead can disappear that fast against a club that entered at 27-35. The Pirates, who were 33-28, have enough offense to stay in games like this. What they need next is a bullpen that can finish them.
