Brandon Lowe plays hero for the Pirates with a walk-off single against the Diamondbacks in extra innings

Matt Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jul 27, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PITTSBURGH — Maybe it was all about the walk-up song. Brandon Lowe changed his tune for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Cubs, and he went 3 for 4 in the win.

And on Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park, Lowe hit a walk-off single to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-2 series opening win in 10 innings. Lowe finished the game 3 for 5 with a double and two RBIs.

Mitch Keller (6-7, 4.83 ERA) tossed five shutout innings to start and was pulled after giving up four hits and two runs in the sixth. Diamondbacks righty Merrill Kelly (8-8, 4.86) threw 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball and struck out six.

Keller gave up three singles to load the bases with one out in the sixth, and Max Kepler — who went 3 for 4 on the night — ripped a two-run double down the right-field line to open the scoring. Yohan Ramirez took over with runners on second and third and induced two crucial groundouts to dance out of the inning without any further damage.

The Pirates got on the board in the bottom of the frame. Jake Mangum singled and went from first to third on an errant pickoff attempt, and Brandon Lowe drove him home with a single.

Back-to-back two-out doubles from Lowe and Bryan Reynolds tied the game in the eighth off Diamondbacks reliever Jonathan Loaisiga, and the Pirates bullpen combined for 4 2/3 shutout innings to keep the door open for the walk off.

It was over when …

Lowe’s ground ball poked through for a single to drive home Billy Cook for the game-winning run.

On the mound

Keller cruised through five scoreless innings, needing just 63 pitches to do so. But in the sixth, his struggles against lefties resurfaced. Corbin Carroll singled on the first pitch of the inning, and he gave up two more singles and a two-run double before being lifted for Ramirez.

Despite largely having success with his fastball, Keller gave up three of the four sixth-inning hits on off-speed pitches.

Ramirez took the Pirates into the eighth, where Ron Marinaccio worked a quick 1-2-3 inning before passing the baton to Gregory Soto, who got out of the ninth unscathed.

Mason Montgomery had unfortunate luck with runners on second and third and one out in the 10th, but he struck out Gabriel Moreno on 11 pitches and got Kepler to fly out for an impressive escape act.

At the plate

The Pirates couldn’t string together productive at-bats against Kelly, who entered Monday’s game with a 5.09 ERA and 12 home runs surrendered in his previous nine starts. Lowe hit 2 for 4 with an RBI single and a double, Nick Gonzales had two hits and Reynolds tallied his first RBI since July 12 with his eighth-inning double.

Bucs bites

— Before the game, the Pirates acquired Baltimore Orioles outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez in exchange for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. Rodriguez has played 62 games with Triple-A Norfolk this season, hitting .270 with 22 RBIs, and is a career .177 hitter across 51 big league games with the Orioles and Cleveland Guardians.

Additionally, the Pirates designated catcher Shawn Ross for assignment and reinstated Endy Rodriguez (left glute strain) from the 10-day injured list. Rodriguez pinch-hit for Henry Davis in the eighth and grounded out, but singled to put runners on the corners with no outs in the 10th.

— The Pirates made a pitching swap Sunday evening, trading right-hander Jose Urquidy to the Chicago White Sox for Felix Doroteo, a 21-year-old righty. Urquidy posted an 8.53 ERA in five outings with the Pirates and will report to Triple-A Charlotte. As for Doroteo, he had a 4.50 ERA and 24 strikeouts across 15 appearances in the Arizona Complex League. He was assigned to the Florida Complex League on Monday.

— With a second-inning single, Gonzales extended his hitting streak to a new career-high 11 games.

Up next

The Pirates will look to clinch a series win at 6:40 p.m. ET Tuesday in what could prove a critical three-game set for wild-card implications. Bubba Chandler (3-8, 4.47) will get the ball for the Pirates, and the Diamondbacks will send out righty Brandon Pfaadt (5-1, 4.43).

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