Weekly Report: Braves Chop Bucs As Bats Cool Off, Pirates Spinning Wheel, Lowe Dodges Bullet, Pgh-Minors-MLB Notes

On the road again…

Pirates Stuff:

• IF Davis Wendzel (.246/9 HR) was called up from Indy while OF Jhostynxon “Password” Garcia was optioned down. RHP Chris Devenski (illness) was flipped from the 15-day to 60-day injured list.
• The Pirates wild weekend with Carmen Mlodzinski ended in a meeting of minds when he was reinstated for the road trip this week and piggybacked with Jared Jones on Thursday.
• Recently DFA’ed righty reliever Justin Lawrence was sold to the Minnesota Twins. He posted an 0-2/5.32 line this year for the Bucs.

Brandon Lowe – image Sportsnet Pgh.

• Brandon Lowe fouled a ball off his knee Saturday and left the game unable to put weight on it. The next day, BC said tests were negative and the team deemed the injury timeout to be day-to-day. The Pirates were hoping he’d be back for the Tuesday homestand, but he beat their clock on Sunday and pinch hit – Brandon lloked healthy enough, banging a double.
• Yeah, they keep coming – Oneil Cruz banged up his hand sliding into home on Saturday and was out of Sumday’s lineup; the Bucs believe it’s another day-to-day type injury and that he’ll avoid a trip to the IL.
• Konnor Griffin’s injury has been updated to a flexor strain; the Bucs said that will require more recovery time without gong into specifics.
• In kinda good injury news, Joey Bart is slated to begin his rehab stint this week. it’s expected to be on the long side, given the nature of the injury and Joey’s relative lack of action while recovering.
• Pittsburgh has four players with at least 30 RBI going into June for the first time since RBIs became an official stat in 1920. They were: Oneil Cruz – 41, Bryan Reynolds – 38, Brandon Lowe – 37 & Ryan O’Hearn – 30).

Oneil Cruz – May 2026 photo/Pirates

• The Buccos have 14 blown saves so far this year, third most in MLB.
• The Pirates had their string of scoring at least nine runs snapped at four games (since May 30 vs. Minnesota) on Thursday. It was the first time the Bucs have plated that well since 1928 (the franchise record is six straight, set in 1901).
• Indy LH reliever Joe La Sorsa exercised his contract’s upward mobility clause. The Pirates have to shop Joe to the rest of the league, and if he’s offered a roster spot, the team has to trade La Sorsa to the claimant or add them to their own active roster. If no one bites, La Sorsa will remain in Pittsburgh’s minor league system. It’s his second try this year as the Bucs lefty bullpen has been pretty solid, blocking him from a spot here. Joe’s been on three big league rosters, posting a 1-1/5.21 line in 46 outings. He was taken by the Red Sox, who bought his contract.
• Greensboro RHP Carlson Reed was picked as the Sally League Pitcher of the Week after he tossed seven perfect frames with seven K. He was joined by teammate OF Brian Sanchez, who was chosen as the Player of the Week after hitting .444 with three homers.

Game Stuff:

• The big bats were at it in Houston; Oneil Cruz & Brandon Lowe banged three-run homers and Endy Rodriguez added a two-run shot to power the Bucs to a 10-6 win. Jake Mangum had four hits and Nick Gonzales chipped in three more as the pair scored four times. Wilber Dotel tossed three scoreless frames which played an equally large role in the dub.
• Paul Skenes again gets to meet the oppo’s ace; tonight it was the AL’s POTM Spencer Arrighetti. But a duel it wasn’t. Henry Davis hit a grannie, Nick Gonzales homered with three RBI and the Bucs were up 9-5 with two outs in the eighth. By the time the pen collected the third out, it was 11-9 ‘Stros and that was the final as the bullpen gave up eight runs in the seventh and eighth frames – and no, none of it was Carmen’s fault; he inexplicably was never called on.
• Jared Jones toughed out a slow opening to give the Bucs five shutout frames and a 1-0 lead. The Pirates scored four more in the sixth to add to Carmen Mlodzinski’s comfort. He promptly gave up a leadoff dinger, but settled in to shut Space City out the remainder of the way to earn a four-inning save of the 5-1 series-clincher. Ryan O’Hearn homered with three RBIs to provide the muscle, Brandow Lowe banged two doubles, scoring twice, and Oneil Cruz was on base four times.

Jared Jones is back – photo/Pirates

• Mitch Keller got a rude welcome to Truist Park as he frittered an early 3-1 lead into a three run deficit by the fifth frame. The Buc bats went silent after that – they had just four hits on the night – and Atlanta took the series opener 6-3.
• The Bravos banged Braxton Ashcraft around for six runs in five innings, and like yesterday ended up a 6-3 win. Unlike yesterday, the Bucs had Bradon Lowe go down in the final frame when he fouled a ball off his knee, knocking him out of Sunday’s getaway day lineup.
• Spencer Horwitz led off the series-ender with a homer and Bubba Chandler went five 0ne-hit frames, but in the seventh, an error followed by back-to-back walks left the bags filled with Bravos. A call to the pen brought out Evan Sisk, and a bases-clearing double gave Atlanta the lead and the sweep, 3-2.
• The Pirates are back home Tuesday with a three-gamer v the Dodgers and three more matches against Miami.

MLB Stuff:

• C Elias Diaz, who began his career with the Bucs (2015-19) & has been with three teams since,  just signed up with Texas.
• The Dodgers just transferred RHP Tyler Glasnow from the 15-day IL (back) to the 60-day list.
• OF Jase Bowen, who the Bucs drafted in 2019 and went to San Diego as a FA during the past off season, was called up by the Padres for his MLB debut after hitting .292 with 13 HRs for AAA El Paso.
• RHP Wilkins Ramos, who pitched for Altoona and Indy last year (he was lights out for the Curve, meh for the Tribe) and moved to the Giants as an FA in the off season was called up this week.
• RHP Bryse Wilson, who toiled here in 2021-22 (4-13/5.37) was released by the Phils, his fifth MLB squad. He found no takers in the wild and was re-signed by Philly to a minor league deal.
• The Reds sold RH reliever Kyle Nicolas to the Orioles, and the O’s assigned him to AAA. The Pirates had traded him to Cincy in March for IF Tyler Callihan.