Brandon

Lowe

Lowe takes a seat with lefty Shota Imanaga taking the ball for Chicago in this one. It’ll be Nick Gonzales taking over at the keystone and hitting second in this one. The 32-year-old veteran has managed to stay mostly healthy and has put together an outstanding Pirates debut with 21 homers and 65 RBI across 427 plate appearances.

Lowe will get a rare day off with left-hander Joey Cantillo toeing the slab for the Guardians. Nick Gonzales will slide over and cover second base while Jared Triolo starts at the hot corner and will bat second for the Pirates on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland.

This was an unusual effort from Lowe, who entered the night with 21 homers and 20 doubles among his 80 hits. He went without an extra-base hit tonight, though. For the first time in 13 months and sixth time in his career, he singled three times in a game. It was his first three-hit game of any kind since May 7. He’s hitting .247/.320/.500 on the year, and though he’s not an All-Star, he is one of about a half-dozen NL second basemen who would have deserved to start at the position for the American League side.

Lowe capped off a five-run uprising in the eighth inning with his 396-foot (107.6-mph EV) three-run shot off of Brad Lord that increased the Pirates’ advantage to 9-4. That would be his only hit in the contest. For the season, the 31-year-old slugger is now slashing .242/.316/.498 with 21 homers and 63 RBI in his first 376 plate appearances with the Pirates.

Lowe put the Pirates on the board with a three-run blast off Chase Burns in the second inning. He later drove in a fourth run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. The home run was Lowe’s 20th of the season for his fourth straight 20-homer campaign. The 31-year-old second baseman is having an excellent season with the Pirates, hitting .246/.320/.515 with the 20 homers, 51 runs scored, and 56 RBI across 341 plate appearances.

Lowe’s OBP has been tumbling in recent weeks, but he’s still collecting homers, having added five to his total this month. He’s tied for 10th in the league with 19 homers, and he’s one of just nine players with 50 runs scored and RBI. That’s at the 81-game mark, so he’s currently on pace for 100 runs scored and 102 RBI. Last year, Bryan Reynolds led the Pirates with 68 runs scored and 73 RBI. The last time any Pirate hit the century mark in either category was when Josh Bell drove in 116 runs in 2019.

Lowe tagged left-hander Justin Wrobleski for a 383-foot (103.7-mph EV) two-run shot in the fifth inning that pulled the Pirates to within two runs at 5-2. He also drew a walk in the contest. The 31-year-old slugger has made a major impact in the Pirates’ lineup this season, slashing .249/.335/.523 with 16 homers and 45 RBI in 275 plate appearances.

Oneil Cruz is also back in center field and hitting sixth after a one-game absence due to a hand laceration. There was some serious initial concern after Lowe fouled a ball off his right leg during Saturday’s game against the Braves. However, he somehow managed to avoid serious injury. The 31-year-old veteran is back at second base and hitting second against Dodgers starter Eric Lauer on Tuesday night at PNC Park.

Lowe was pulled from Saturday’s game after he fouled a ball off of his leg in the ninth inning. The 31-year-old slugger told reporters on Sunday that he believes he avoided any serious injuries and is optimistic that he’ll be able to return to the lineup in a couple of days. As of now, it seems like he’ll be able to avoid a trip to the injured list after the scary situation on Saturday night.

Manager Don Kelly said there wasn’t any news in his interview after the game, and the Pirates haven’t revealed anything since, even though X-rays were surely long since taken. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything bad, but those forced to make a call on whether to start Lowe this week are in a bind. A Monday afternoon update seems likely.