Pirates Offense Explodes During Historic Series Sweep

The Pittsburgh Pirates lineup caught fire during a dominant series against the New York Mets.

Pittsburgh completed a three-game sweep over New York with a 12-1 victory on Sunday. The Pirates’ highest scoring output of the 2025 season also cemented a 21st-century first for the franchise.

MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf noted that the Pirates scored at least nine runs in each contest of a three-game series for the first time since Sept. 1, 1999. They hadn’t achieved that feat since Brian Giles led an offensive outburst at the hitter-friendly Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies.

It’s also just the third time ever, and first in 90 years, that the Pirates have won every series game by at least seven runs.

Before hosting the Mets at PNC Park, the Pirates had averaged 3.3 runs per game with an NL-worst .639 OPS. The Mets, meanwhile, brandished an MLB-leading 3.23 team ERA. Yet anybody watching this series would have assumed the Pirates were the World Series hopefuls with baseball’s largest payroll.

Pittsburgh started the series by providing Mitch Keller some rare run support in a 9-1 victory. They again collected 12 hits and nine runs on Saturday, this time pushing Paul Blackburn to an early exit after the starter recorded just three outs.

The Pirates wasted no time maintaining their momentum Sunday when stacking five runs against Frankie Montas in the first inning. New York’s bullpen was so taxed that manager Carlos Mendoza waived the white flag and sent Travis Jankowski to the mound to pitch the eighth. The outfielder served up two runs, but none of Pittsburgh’s four home runs.

Tommy Pham made his former team pay with his second home run of 2025, and Bryan Reynolds crushed his second long ball of the series. The All-Star outfielder is now batting 13-for-31 with seven extra-base hits during a seven-game hitting streak.

Oneil Cruz’s power surge still may have been Sunday’s most welcome sight. Entering the game with one home run in June, the erratic slugger snapped a 14-game drought by belting two home runs.

Cruz crushed the first one at a 112.1-mph exit velocity, per Statcast. The Pirates will hope it’s the start of another hot streak from the toolsy 26-year-old, who posted a .902 OPS in April.

The Mets can at least take solace in the fact that the Pirates’ only other sweep of the season came over the Philadelphia Phillies, their main NL East competitor. Pittsburgh will look to keep raking into the All-Star break when starting a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.

More MLB: Pirates Lineup Proved Mitch Keller Right With Scoring Outburst