September 18, 2026 · NL Cent
Kansas City Royals vs Pittsburgh Pirates
vs
Scoring summary
| INN | BATTER | PLAY | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Vinnie Pasquantino | Vinnie Pasquantino homers (13) on a fly ball to right field. | KC 1, PIT 0 |
| T3 | Vinnie Pasquantino | Vinnie Pasquantino singles on a sharp line drive to right fielder Ronny Simon. Kyle Isbel scores. Bobby Witt Jr. to 2nd. | KC 2, PIT 0 |
| T3 | Maikel Garcia | Maikel Garcia doubles (19) on a line drive to right fielder Ronny Simon. Bobby Witt Jr. scores. Vinnie Pasquantino scores. Maikel Garcia out at 3rd on the throw, right fielder Ronny Simon to second baseman Brandon Lowe to third baseman Nick Gonzales. | KC 4, PIT 0 |
| B3 | Brandon Lowe | Brandon Lowe homers (32) on a fly ball to center field. Konnor Griffin scores. | KC 4, PIT 2 |
| T4 | Michael Massey | Michael Massey homers (13) on a fly ball to right field. | KC 5, PIT 2 |
| B4 | Henry Davis | Henry Davis doubles (6) on a line drive to right fielder Nick Loftin. Ronny Simon scores. Spencer Horwitz to 3rd. | KC 5, PIT 3 |
| B4 | Konnor Griffin | Konnor Griffin grounds out, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. Spencer Horwitz scores. | KC 5, PIT 4 |
| B5 | Ryan O'Hearn | Ryan O'Hearn grounds into a force out, third baseman Maikel Garcia to second baseman Michael Massey. Oneil Cruz scores. Nick Gonzales out at 2nd. Ryan O'Hearn to 1st. | KC 5, PIT 5 |
| B7 | Spencer Horwitz | Spencer Horwitz singles on a line drive to left fielder John Rave. Oneil Cruz scores. Nick Gonzales scores. | KC 5, PIT 7 |
| B7 | Konnor Griffin | Konnor Griffin singles on a ground ball to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Spencer Horwitz scores. Henry Davis to 2nd. | KC 5, PIT 8 |
Box score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KC | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| PIT | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
Pitching & bullpen
How the game was pitched — the starters, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role, and the pitch counts behind them.
Royals
AWAY
5
Randy Dobnak started for Royals, leaving with a 5–4 lead. Out of the bullpen, Nate Pearson took the roughest line.
workload · innings pitched
-
Randy Dobnak
Starter
3.2
74
4
1
Pitch-by-pitch: what Randy Dobnak threw
CSW 22% 1st-pitch strike 47% 3.9 pitches/PAPitch # % Whiff CS Foul Ball In play Sinker 26 35% 0 7 7 5 7 Changeup 22 30% 1 4 4 10 3 Sweeper 21 28% 1 3 3 11 3 Four-Seam Fastball 5 7% 0 0 1 2 2 - Connor Thomas Middle 1.1 19 1 2 inherited 1, stranded 1
- Anthony Gose Setup 1.0 22 0 2
- Nate Pearson Middle 1.0 28 3 2 L
- Lucas Erceg Closer 1.0 12 0 0
Pirates
HOME
8
Paul Skenes started for Pirates, leaving with the game tied 5–5.
workload · innings pitched
-
Paul Skenes
Starter
6.0
89
5
7
Pitch-by-pitch: what Paul Skenes threw
CSW 34% 1st-pitch strike 79% 3.7 pitches/PAPitch # % Whiff CS Foul Ball In play Four-Seam Fastball 38 43% 9 4 9 10 6 Sweeper 24 27% 4 8 4 5 3 Slider 15 17% 1 2 2 6 4 Changeup 7 8% 2 0 1 2 2 Sinker 4 4% 0 0 1 2 1 Splitter 1 1% 0 0 0 1 0 - Brandon Eisert Middle 0.2 14 0 1
- Yohan Ramírez Middle 1.1 20 0 1 W inherited 2, stranded 2
- Gregory Soto Middle 1.0 18 0 2 SV
Where the game turned
2 runs
- Horwitz 1B (2)
Batting lines
AWAY · KC
| BATTER | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carter Jensen C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .233 | .320 | .450 | .770 | |
| Bobby Witt Jr. SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .276 | .358 | .440 | .798 | |
| Vinnie Pasquantino 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .240 | .327 | .395 | .722 | HR (13) |
| Maikel Garcia 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .262 | .318 | .378 | .696 | 2B |
| Michael Massey 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .279 | .312 | .444 | .756 | HR (13) |
| Salvador Perez DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .226 | .270 | .374 | .644 | |
| Isaac Collins PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .219 | .325 | .332 | .657 | |
| Nick Loftin RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .232 | .319 | .376 | .695 | 2B |
| Tyler Tolbert PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .293 | .358 | .407 | .765 | |
| John Rave LF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .227 | .319 | .454 | .773 | |
| Kyle Isbel CF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .221 | .267 | .326 | .593 |
HOME · PIT
| BATTER | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Konnor Griffin SS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .271 | .325 | .393 | .718 | |
| Brandon Lowe 2B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .260 | .331 | .488 | .819 | HR (32) |
| Bryan Reynolds RF | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .263 | .366 | .427 | .793 | 2 2B |
| Oneil Cruz CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .277 | .364 | .483 | .847 | 2B |
| Jared Triolo 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .241 | .311 | .307 | .618 | |
| Ryan O'Hearn DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .266 | .333 | .449 | .782 | |
| Spencer Horwitz 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .248 | .347 | .368 | .715 | |
| Henry Davis C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .169 | .272 | .313 | .585 | 2B |
| Nick Gonzales 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .304 | .368 | .391 | .759 | |
| Ronny Simon RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .318 | .362 | .386 | .748 | 2B, SB |
Pitching lines
AWAY · KC
| PITCHER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | NP | ERA | DEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randy Dobnak | 3.2 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 74 | 3.08 | |
| Connor Thomas | 1.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 9.15 | |
| Anthony Gose | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0.00 | |
| Nate Pearson | 1.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 3.07 | L |
| Lucas Erceg | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5.96 |
HOME · PIT
| PITCHER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | NP | ERA | DEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Skenes | 6.0 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 89 | 3.91 | |
| Brandon Eisert | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 5.23 | |
| Yohan Ramírez | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 3.00 | W |
| Gregory Soto | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 3.78 | SV |
Manager comparison
AWAY · KC
Lineup 4.6 R
Bunts 3.1 R
IBBs 2.5 R
HOME · PIT
Lineup 4.4 R
Bunts 0.9 R
IBBs 3.6 R
Recent form
AWAY · KC
3-7
L4
-11 run diff
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HOME · PIT
6-4
W4
-5 run diff
WWWWLLWLLW
Season series: 0-3 with KC listed first across 3 prior meetings.
Keep reading
How RunsLeft analyzes games
Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. The pitching analysis describes how the game was pitched — the starter's line, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role (opener, bulk, setup, closer), pitch counts as a fatigue signal, and the leverage context where the game turned. Reliever roles are inferred from how the manager used each arm up to that date. It describes structure and constraints; it does not grade the manager.