Pirates end scoreless streak, but continue skid with loss to Royals

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jul 7, 2025

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Pittsburgh Pirates snapped their scoreless streak on Monday night. It wasn’t enough to snap their losing streak.

The Kansas City Royals beat the Pirates, 9-3, on Monday at Kauffman Stadium, taking the lead with a three-run third off starter Andrew Heaney and adding four more in the middle innings against Chase Shugart. Kansas City had four homers and seven extra-base hits. After a 6-0 homestand, the Pirates have started their longest road trip of the year 0-4.

Heaney was hit hard, continuing a run of difficult starts away from PNC Park. He needed 76 pitches to get through three innings, allowing four runs on six hits, a walk and a hit batter. He struck out the first two batters of the game, then allowed a homer to first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. It only got tougher from there.

The Pirates scored their first runs in 30 innings and took the lead in the third on Tommy Pham’s two-run homer, but Heaney couldn’t protect it. The Royals scored their three in the bottom half with four singles, a double and a hit batter. Third baseman Maikel Garcia brought in a run with a single, then catcher Salvador Perez added another with a double off the left field wall. Designated hitter Mark Canha nearly ended the inning, but beat out a double play ball for an RBI fielder’s choice.

The inning could have been worse. For the third out, Pham made a leaping catch in left field, preventing what likely would have been a two-run double.

Royals rookie starter Noah Cameron had one of the best starts of his young career, completing a career-high seven innings to earn the win and improve to 3-4. He allowed three hits, two runs and had seven strikeouts.

It was over when …

… Shugart allowed four more runs in 2 2/3 innings of relief, allowing an opposite-field two-run blast to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in the fourth, a solo moonshot to Perez in the fifth, and a Kyle Isbel triple in the sixth. Isbel scored on a sacrifice fly from Witt Jr.

Lefty Genesis Cabrera pitched two innings before David Bednar got the final out. Cabrera allowed two hits and a run, a solo homer to left fielder Nick Loftin in the eighth. Bednar struck out the only batter he faced.

On the mound

Heaney didn’t have much swing-and-miss, resulting in his shortest start of the year. Of his 76 pitches, the Royals swung and missed at three of them.

At the plate

The Pirates managed just four hits, including a single from catcher Henry Davis in the third, Pham’s homer that brought Davis in, and a single to lead off the fourth from right fielder Bryan Reynolds. Alexander Canario had an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning, when the game was well out of reach.

Most valuable player

Perez, who won the Roberto Clemente Award last season, went 2 for 4 with a homer, a double and two RBIs.

Up next

The Pirates will look to snap their four-game losing streak on Tuesday in the middle game of a three-game series. Mitch Keller (3-10, 3.64), the winner of two in a row, will face Royals right-hander Seth Lugo (6-5, 2.65).

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