Brandon Lowe launched a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning to power the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 victory over the visiting Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Ronny Simon and Jake Mangum each hit two-run homers, while Oneil Cruz, Rafael Flores Jr. and Lowe each had two hits for the Pirates (78-77).
Right-hander Luke Weaver (3-1) threw a scoreless eighth with one strikeout, and left-hander Mason Montgomery earned his 15th save of the season after working around a walk with one strikeout in a scoreless ninth.
Nick Loftin had four hits, while Bobby Witt Jr. went 3-for-5 with two runs and extended his on-base streak to 17 games for the Royals (67-88). Carter Jensen hit a solo homer, while Jac Caglianone and Vinnie Pasquantino each had two hits for Kansas City.
Flores led off the eighth by singling on a 0-2 pitch before Lowe homered off Royals reliever Steven Cruz (2-4) for his fourth blast in five games and 33rd of the season to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead.
The Pirates had taken a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Simon hit his first career home run in 42 games, a two-run shot just inside the left field foul pole.
In the third, Jensen set a Royals rookie record with his 25th home run of the season, trimming Pittsburgh’s advantage to 2-1.
Mangum’s two-run homer in the fourth to left extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 4-1.
The Royals trimmed their deficit to 4-3 in the fifth. Witt legged out a slow roller to third, and after Caglianone walked, Pittsburgh starter Bubba Chandler was relieved by Brandon Eisert. Witt and Caglianone executed a double steal to put runners on second and third.
Pasquantino’s groundout plated Witt, and one batter later, Michael Massey’s sacrifice bunt brought home Caglianone. Ryan O’Hearn made a slick glove flip through his legs to Eisert, who tagged first base just before a head-first sliding Massey.
In the seventh, Kansas City collected four hits and scored two runs to take a 5-4 lead on RBI singles by Caglianone and Loftin.
Royals starter Noah Cameron allowed four runs on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Chandler yielded three runs on eight hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
