Kansas City Royals 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 4 — September 20, 2026

Game Highlights

Published September 20, 2026 · Source: MLB

Scoring summary

INN	BATTER	PLAY	SCORE
T1	Salvador Perez	Salvador Perez singles on a ground ball to center fielder Oneil Cruz. Bobby Witt Jr. scores. Jac Caglianone to 2nd.	KC 1, PIT 0
B4	Oneil Cruz	Oneil Cruz homers (20) on a fly ball to center field.	KC 1, PIT 1
B6	Spencer Horwitz	Spencer Horwitz singles on a line drive to center fielder Tyler Tolbert. Ryan O'Hearn scores. Rafael Flores Jr. to 2nd.	KC 1, PIT 2
T7	Vinnie Pasquantino	Vinnie Pasquantino homers (14) on a fly ball to right center field. John Rave scores.	KC 3, PIT 2
B8	Rafael Flores Jr.	Rafael Flores Jr. homers (10) on a fly ball to left field. Ronny Simon scores.	KC 3, PIT 4

Box score

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R
KC	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	3
PIT	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	4

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 3

Michael Wacha started for Royals, leaving trailing 1–2. Out of the bullpen, Nate Pearson took the roughest line.

workload · innings pitched

Pitcher IP P R K

Michael Wacha Starter 5.2 113 2 5

Pitch-by-pitch: what Michael Wacha threw

CSW 20% 1st-pitch strike 69% 4.3 pitches/PA

Pitch	#	%	Whiff	CS	Foul	Ball	In play
Four-Seam Fastball	35	31%	4	1	15	10	5
Changeup	27	24%	2	0	11	10	4
Cutter	19	17%	2	4	6	4	3
Slider	15	13%	4	2	2	5	2
Sinker	13	12%	0	2	4	5	2
Curveball	4	4%	0	2	0	1	1

Nolan Hoffman Setup 0.1 5 0 1 inherited 2, stranded 2
Connor Thomas Middle 0.2 26 0 1 HLD
Jose Cuas Setup 0.1 7 0 1 HLD inherited 2, stranded 2
Nate Pearson Middle 0.2 25 2 1 L
Anthony Gose Middle 0.1 6 0 0 inherited 1, stranded 1

Pirates HOME 4

Pirates opened with Lake Bachar, then turned the bulk of the game over to Yohan Ramírez. Out of the bullpen, Carmen Mlodzinski took the roughest line.

workload · innings pitched

Pitcher IP P R K

Lake Bachar Opener 1.0 20 1 1

Pitch-by-pitch: what Lake Bachar threw

CSW 20% 1st-pitch strike 67% 3.3 pitches/PA

Pitch	#	%	Whiff	CS	Foul	Ball	In play
Four-Seam Fastball	7	35%	0	0	3	3	1
Sweeper	7	35%	2	1	0	2	2
Curveball	5	25%	1	0	2	1	1
Slider	1	5%	0	0	0	0	1

Yohan Ramírez Bulk 2.0 30 0 4
Wilber Dotel Middle 2.0 32 0 1
Carmen Mlodzinski Middle 3.0 45 2 1 W
Mason Montgomery Middle 1.0 11 0 1 SV

Where the game turned

2 runs Bottom 8th · off Pearson

Jr. HR (2)

Game insights

Kelly has used 29 different lineups in 30 games

Don Kelly (PIT) has run 29 distinct starting lineups across 30 games this season — that's 97% turnover game-to-game. Most managers stay below 14 for the same span.
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Bobby Witt Jr. reaches base in 18 consecutive games

Bobby Witt Jr. (KC) has reached base safely in 18 straight games — past the 15-game watermark.
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Quatraro has used 30 different lineups in 30 games

Matt Quatraro (KC) has run 30 distinct starting lineups across 30 games this season — that's 100% turnover game-to-game. Most managers stay below 14 for the same span.
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Batting lines

AWAY · KC

BATTER	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	NOTES
Maikel Garcia 3B	4	0	0	0	0	1	.258	.313	.371	.684
Bobby Witt Jr. SS	4	1	1	0	0	1	.279	.359	.440	.799
Jac Caglianone DH	3	0	2	0	1	0	.282	.335	.486	.821
Salvador Perez 1B	4	0	2	1	0	1	.227	.271	.374	.645
Michael Massey 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	.274	.307	.436	.743
Nick Loftin RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	.240	.324	.380	.704	SB
John Rave LF	4	1	1	0	0	2	.228	.315	.441	.756
Luke Maile C	4	0	1	0	0	2	.171	.244	.293	.537	2B
Isaac Collins PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.217	.323	.329	.652
Tyler Tolbert CF	2	0	0	0	0	0	.288	.353	.400	.753
Vinnie Pasquantino PH	1	1	1	2	0	0	.244	.330	.406	.736	HR (14)

HOME · PIT

BATTER	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	NOTES
Konnor Griffin SS	5	0	1	0	0	1	.267	.322	.389	.711	2B
Brandon Lowe 2B	4	0	1	0	1	1	.262	.332	.492	.824
Bryan Reynolds LF	3	0	1	0	1	1	.262	.365	.423	.788
Oneil Cruz CF	4	1	1	1	0	0	.280	.367	.490	.857	HR (20)
Rafael Flores Jr. C	3	1	2	2	1	1	.286	.354	.556	.910	HR (10), 2B
Spencer Horwitz 1B	4	0	1	1	0	2	.248	.346	.367	.713
Jake Mangum RF	3	0	0	0	1	1	.279	.336	.370	.706
Nick Gonzales 3B	4	0	0	0	0	1	.302	.365	.389	.754
Ryan O'Hearn DH	3	1	1	0	1	1	.264	.331	.443	.774

Pitching lines

AWAY · KC

PITCHER	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	NP	ERA	DEC
Michael Wacha	5.2	4	2	2	4	5	1	113	3.33
Nolan Hoffman	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	3.86
Connor Thomas	0.2	1	0	0	1	1	0	26	8.85	HLD
Jose Cuas	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	7	2.21	HLD
Nate Pearson	0.2	3	2	2	0	1	1	25	3.43	L
Anthony Gose	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0.00

HOME · PIT

PITCHER	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	NP	ERA	DEC
Lake Bachar	1.0	3	1	1	0	1	0	20	3.56
Yohan Ramírez	2.0	1	0	0	0	4	0	30	2.93
Wilber Dotel	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	32	4.58
Carmen Mlodzinski	3.0	3	2	2	1	1	1	45	3.95	W
Mason Montgomery	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	11	2.59	SV

Manager comparison

AWAY · KC

Matt Quatraro

Lineup 4.6 R Bunts 3.1 R IBBs 2.5 R

HOME · PIT

Don Kelly

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

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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.

Read the full methodology.