The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Chicago White Sox 9-4 Sunday, completing a three-game series sweep. The Pirates overcame a tough start for Mitch Keller, who did not pitch at least five innings for the first time since April of 2023, a stretch of 49 games. Keller allowed two earned runs on four hits. He walked three and struck out three, but was pulled after three innings. Quinn Priester earned the win in relief of Keller. The Pirates had 12 hits in the game, with four players having multi-hit games. Ke’Bryan Hayes had three of the hits. Catcher Joey Bart had a three-run home run in the fourth inning. Bryan Reynolds heads into his All-Star appearance after hitting his 18th home run of the season.
The Pirates head into the All-Star Break with a four-game winning streak, and are back to .500 for the season for the first time since late April. It was their second series sweep of the season, with the first coming in the season-opening series in Miami.
The Bucs will open a six-game home-stand Friday against Philadelphia. They are 48-48 and 6-1/2 games behind first-place Milwaukee in the National League Central Division. The Bucs are 1-1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot.