St. Louis, May 19, 2026, 18:09 (CDT)
Pirates don’t get much of a breather after dropping three in Philly—just two days out from being blanked again, this time by Zack Wheeler, they’re headed to St. Louis for Game 48 on Tuesday night. Mitch Keller draws the start at Busch against Matthew Liberatore. Phillies pitching held Pittsburgh scoreless back-to-back, including that 6-0 shutout at PNC Park with Paul Skenes losing the duel.
Pittsburgh doesn’t have much room to maneuver. The Pirates, sitting at 24-23, trail the Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals in the NL Central. The Phillies, meanwhile, capped off a weekend sweep and followed it up with a Monday victory over Cincinnati to climb to 25-23 with Don Mattingly serving as interim manager.
The weekend’s drama peaked with Philadelphia’s Sunday victory. Seven shutout frames from Wheeler, a Harper home run against Skenes, and the Phillies finished off a three-game sweep, jumping above .500 for the first time since early April.
Mattingly called it before the game. Asked about how the Phillies might handle Skenes, his answer was simple: “We have the right guy.” Wheeler backed it up, scattering four hits over his outing, punching out eight, and trimming his ERA to 1.99. “I felt good today,” Wheeler said. Mlb
Pirates ace Paul Skenes came out firing—striking out the side to open the game and pushing his scoreless run to 20 innings. The Phillies finally broke through in the fifth, tagging him for two runs, and things unraveled from there. Skenes exited after five-plus innings charged with five earned runs, tying his career high. “I just didn’t execute a few pitches,” he said afterward. Mlb
It unraveled in stages. García drew a walk to open the fifth. Realmuto chipped in a single. Crawford’s groundout got the Phillies on the board, Turner’s RBI single tacked on another run. Harper launched his 12th homer leading off the sixth. Stott doubled home two more in that same frame, then went deep himself in the eighth.
Pittsburgh’s worries went beyond Skenes. The Pirates scraped together just five hits on Sunday, marking their second consecutive shutout—Cristopher Sánchez handled them the day before. Headed into St. Louis, they’re carrying a three-game skid.
On paper, it looked like a marquee duel to wrap the weekend: Wheeler, standing at 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA, squaring off against Skenes, who carried a 6-2 record and a 1.98 ERA. The Phillies, though, ended up with the sweep, putting up final scores of 11-9, 6-0, and 6-0 in the series.
The Phillies kept pushing. Bryson Stott launched a two-run shot in the eighth Monday, lifting Philadelphia past the Reds 5-4. That marked a 16-4 stretch with Mattingly at the helm. Alec Bohm homered too, while Jhoan Duran locked down the ninth for his eighth save.
Philadelphia’s hot streak is still in its early days, and it hinges on pitching health and clutch moments late. Wheeler opened the season sidelined after blood clot surgery on his upper right arm. Run prevention remains a must as the Phillies push deeper into the schedule.
The Pirates are looking at more pressing concerns. Keller brings a 4-2 record and a 3.59 ERA into Tuesday, with Liberatore countering at 2-2 and a 4.40 ERA for St. Louis. Dropping the series would put Pittsburgh even further back of the Cardinals in a division where the gap between a winning record and fourth place is razor-thin.
