Buc Notes-Jones’ two-sided outing, more lefty issues, ‘Password’ returns

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – After coming back to force extra innings each of the past two nights against the Diamondbacks, the Pirates entered the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday hoping to put together another late rally from down 3-0. But with no more magic left in the tank, Pittsburgh’s batters didn’t even come close to mounting any sort of comeback.

After Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reynolds struck out, Esmerlyn Valdez gave Pittsburgh a smidge of life by working Diamondbacks’ reliever Brandyn Garcia into a walk. But that turned out to be all the offense the Bucs mustered in the frame, as a forceout on the next at-bat iced the game — and a series victory — for Arizona.

“The fight that this team has shown during this homestand and specifically in this series, coming back the first night, finding a way last night to come back (too), today was frustrating,” Pirates Manager Don Kelly said postgame.

Jones’ two-sided outing

Since returning from injury back in late May, Jared Jones has been one of Pittsburgh’s most dependable arms. However, his season hasn’t been without its fair share of hiccups. Wednesday’s outing was one of them.

Entering the contest with just three total earned runs to his name across his past four games this month (21 innings of work), Jones finished July on a sour note versus the D-Backs.

Through the first few innings, it seemed like Jones was on track for one of his best outings of the campaign. He sent Arizona down in order three times in a row, and recorded four punchouts in the process. Then, everything started to unravel for Pittsburgh’s starter in the fourth.

A leadoff double by Corbin Carroll set the table for the Gabriel Moreno homer that followed, which quickly threw the Bucs into a 2-0 deficit. After a scoreless fifth inning, the Diamondbacks got the better of Jones again in the sixth by working him into his second walk and then ripping off two singles to go up 3-0. Kelly let Jones finish out the remainder of the frame, but by then his team was left with only three innings to erase a three-run margin.

Jones posted a final line of 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, and 5 K in 6.0 IP.

Despite the rough end to his outing, Kelly stated postgame that he believes Jones is starting to resemble his 2024 self.

“He is. In the month of July, I think he’s getting back to that. Today he was in attack mode throwing strikes. Fastball was good. Slider was good. He threw a few change-ups again, which didn’t seem to be as crisp as usual,” Kelly said.

Another lefty silences the Bucs

The Pirates’ offense has thrived off right-handed pitchers in 2026, so it was quite surprising when they failed to put up an earned run on either of the D-Backs’ righty starters in the first two games of the series. But their struggles against left-handed hurler Eduardo Rodriguez Wednesday? Not surprising in the slightest.

One of Pittsburgh’s most glaring issues in 2026 — especially as of late — has been its inability to solve lefties. The statistics pretty much tell the whole story, as the Bucs came into Wednesday ranked 18th in the league in OPS against left-handed hurlers (.703) and held a .250 batting average.

That trend showed itself in a big way, as Rodriguez enjoyed a performance that saw him hold the Bucs scoreless through eight innings and allow just five hits.

“We gotta be better, and we’re trying to find different ways to do that. I know the hitting group is working with the guys on different approaches and trying to figure it out,” Kelly said.

‘Password’ returns to the lineup

Jhostynxon ‘Password’ Garcia, given his nickname for the way his first name is spelled, made his return to the MLB after last appearing in the Pirates’ lineup back on June 6th. Garcia was held hitless in three at-bats Wednesday, though Kelly mentioned after the game that part of the reason he was brought in was to help improve the team’s hitting against lefties.

Injury/Rehab Notes

• Pirates Director of Sports Medicine Todd Tomcyzk announced Wednesday that top pitching prospect Seth Hernandez’s season is likely over due to an oblique strain. The injury will keep him sidelined for the next 6-8 weeks.
• Oneil Cruz is progressing well, has resumed all baseball activities, and is getting closer to returning to the field on a rehab assignment.
• Everything is healing as anticipated for Konnor Griffin, and he is doing light workouts as he works through his recovery process.
• Evan Sisk is expected to make his return to the field on a rehab assignment Thursday on the bump for Triple-A Indianapolis.
• Spencer Horwitz has been cleared from his hamstring injury, but will still be sidelined for a while due to a concussion.
• Rafael Flores Jr., who is also dealing with a concussion, is doing well as he continues his recovery.

Up Next

The Pirates will head to Cincinnati for the second time this season to open a four-game set versus the Reds Thursday night. Right-handed reliever Yohan Ramirez will make his first career start in a bullpen game and the Reds will go with RHP Rhett Lowder (3-7, 5.61 ERA), who lasted just 1.1 innings last time he faced the Pirates May 2nd and finished with a line of 5 H, 8 ER, 4 BB and one strikeout. Dan Zangrilli has the North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show at 6:15 with first pitch set for 7:10pm on 100.1 FM and AM 1020, KDKA.