Los Angeles Angels at Pittsburgh Pirates

· Major League Baseball

Los Angeles Angels

54-88, 24-44 Away

Final
6 - 1

Pittsburgh Pirates

70-73, 37-34 Home

Yusei Kikuchi pitches 6 scoreless innings to lead Angels to a 6-1 win over the Pirates

Kikuchi (1-5) allowed five hits and three walks while striking out six in his third start since returning Aug. 23 from left shoulder inflammation that kept him out since late April. The 35-year-old two-time All-Star last won in his final start last season, giving up one run in five innings as the Angels topped the Royals 3-2 on Sept. 24, 2025.

Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft (14-6) struck out nine, but allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out seven while allowing one hit through 3 1/3 innings before Wade Meckler doubled into shallow left field with one out in the fourth. Moisés Ballesteros hit a sharp two-out single under the glove of second baseman Nick Gonzales, scoring Meckler from second.

Josh Lowe led off the fifth with a 410-foot shot to center field for his 11th homer of the season. Denzer Guzman followed with a single to left, moved to second on Adam Frazier’s sacrifice bunt and extended the lead to 3-0 by scoring on the first of Zach Neto's three singles.

Esmerlyn Valdez walked and Bryan Reynolds singled to start the sixth for Pittsburgh. Kikuchi then struck out Oneil Cruz, forced Nick Gonzales into a force out and erased the threat by getting Rafael Flores Jr. to fly out to center.

The Angels tacked on three runs in the seventh. Mike Trout hit an RBI single through the left side of the infield and Meckler drove in two more with a double to right-center.

Reynolds hit a two-out home run, his 16th of the season and first since July 28. It was a 421-foot shot over the right-field wall in the eighth for the Pirates' lone run.

Up next Pirates RHP Paul Skenes (9-11, 3.97 ERA) starts Sunday's series finale against Angels RHP Walbert Ureña (9-9, 2.85).

How can I watch Los Angeles Angels vs. Pittsburgh Pirates?

TV Channel: Angels at Pirates 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
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Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Lowe struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Mangum flied out to center.
	9th Inning	Horwitz walked, Flores Jr. to second.
	9th Inning	Flores Jr. singled to left.
	9th Inning	Gonzales grounded out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Fermin relieved Murphy

Statistics

LAA		PIT
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
1	Hit By Pitch	0
9	Ground Balls	9
13	Strikeouts	9
6	Runs Batted In	1
1	Sacrifice Hit	0
12	Hits	8
0	Stolen Bases	1
0	Walks	4
0	Catcher Interference	0
6	Runs	1
0	Ground Into Double Play	2
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
38	At Bats	32
1	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
15	Runners Left On Base	17
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
3	Doubles	2
17	Fly Balls	14
0	Caught Stealing	1
137	Pitches	136
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	2
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
18	Total Bases	13
40	Plate Appearances	36
162.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
4	Extra Base Hits	3
5.9	Runs Created	3.6
.316	Batting Average	.250
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.474	Slugging Percentage	.406
.158	Secondary Average	.281
.333	On Base Percentage	.333
.807	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.740
0.5	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.6
5.9	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	3.6
45.0	Batter Rating	20.0
38.0	At Bats Per Home Run	32.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.50
3.43	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.78
.158	Isolated Power	.156
0.00	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.44
.000	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.111
-.158	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.031
12.0	Runs Produced	2.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.5	Patience Ratio	0.5
0.5	Balls In Play Average	0.3
91.8	MLB Rating	74.8
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0