INDEPENDENT MLB ANALYTICSINDEPENDENT ANALYTICS
ETLATYOBERLON
FinalFinal lineupsAL Central / NL Central

Kansas City Royals 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 8

Final Score and Game Recap

Final score, pitching lines and standings context.

6:40 PM ET · PNC ParkGame-day snapshot Sep 20, 2:02 AM ETFinal lineups lockedCurrent 2026 season stats — updated Oct 29, 5:00 AM ET
T-Score27
Kansas City Royals
69–93 · 5th AL Central · T-Score 27
5
5–8
FINAL · 9 innings
Pittsburgh Pirates
82–80 · 3rd NL Central · T-Score 43
8
T-Score43
FINAL · 9 innings
Pitching recap
PitcherTeamRoleIPHERBBKP
Randy DobnakKC
Starter
3.2742174
Nate PearsonKC
ReliefLoss
1.0331228
Paul SkenesPIT
Starter
6.0651789
Yohan RamírezPIT
ReliefWin
1.1000120
Gregory SotoPIT
ReliefSave
1.0100218
Scoring by inning
123456789RHE
KCKansas City Royals103100000582
PITPittsburgh Pirates0022103008150
Top hitters
Vinnie Pasquantino2-for-4 · 1 HR · 2 RBI
Brandon Lowe1-for-5 · 1 HR · 2 RBI
Michael Massey1-for-4 · 1 HR · 1 RBI
Konnor Griffin4-for-5 · 2 RBI · 1 R
Spencer Horwitz2-for-3 · 2 RBI · 2 R · 1 BB

Matchup at a glance

PitcherStat calculation
CategoryComparisonWhy
Starting pitcherPiratesSkenes owns the stronger overall starter profile, with the higher P-Score and better strikeout and baserunner rates.
Offense vs handPiratesPittsburgh has produced the stronger offense against right-handed pitching.
BullpenPiratesPittsburgh has allowed fewer runs from the bullpen on the season ERA.
Recent formPiratesPittsburgh has won 6 of its last 10 and owns the stronger recent run differential.
Plate disciplinePiratesPittsburgh has drawn 541 walks this season, 49 more than Kansas.

Pregame contextStarting pitchers

KC
Randy Dobnak RHP
Randy Dobnak
Kansas City Royals
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
2.73
52nd
WHIP
1.27
157th
K/9
6.10
212th
BB/9
2.99
114th
P-Score53i
FIP
–
HR/9
0.78
37th
OPS/R
–
IP
69.1
Last 5 starts
ERA
4.23
QUALITY
START %
40%
(2 of 5)
DAYS
REST
6
PIT
Paul Skenes RHP
Paul Skenes
Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
3.78
83rd
WHIP
1.13
38th
K/9
10.28
29th
BB/9
2.56
54th
P-Score65i
FIP
–
HR/9
0.94
84th
OPS/R
–
IP
162.0
Last 5 starts
ERA
3.29
QUALITY
START %
40%
(2 of 5)
DAYS
REST
6
How the starters differ
·Skenes strikes out 4.2 more batters per nine innings.
·Dobnak enters with a 2.73 ERA compared with Skenes's 3.78.
·The WHIP gap favors Skenes, 1.13 to 1.27.
·Skenes owns a 3.29 ERA over his last five starts, compared with 4.23 for Dobnak.

How the lineups match the starters' pitch mix

Pitch data coverage: partial. Usage and velocity only.

Dobnak arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Sinker39%91.5
Sweeper25%82.4
Changeup22%84.7
Four-seam10%92.2
Slider5%83.7
Skenes arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Four-seam41%96.8
Sweeper16%84.3
Changeup12%88.7
Sinker12%96.6
Splitter10%93.2
Slider9%86.6
Curveball0%81.8

Team OPS vs opposing starter's hand

Royals vs RHP (Paul Skenes)
13th
in MLB
0.727OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000
Pirates vs RHP (Randy Dobnak)
6th
in MLB
0.749OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000

Lineup strength vs today's starter

Weighted by batting-order spot. Season rates are regressed toward league average before they enter the model.

Updated Sep 18, 3:40 PM ET
KCKC
.718
−27 ptsOPS edge
PITPIT
.745

Slight edge: PIT

Full lineup comparison

Lineups

Final lineupsOrder from the stored snapshot; treat as unofficial until the card is filed.Full lineup page
Kansas City RoyalsOfficial lineupvs RHP Paul Skenes
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs RHPVs Skenes (BvP)
1Carter JensenLC73.79027.837No MLB historyNo history
2Bobby Witt Jr.RSS75.80018.783No MLB historyNo history
3Vinnie PasquantinoL1B66.76117.826No MLB historyNo history
4Maikel GarciaR3B47.7153.650No MLB historyNo history
5Michael MasseyL2B58.73513.721No MLB historyNo history
6Salvador PerezRDH53.65721.628No MLB historyNo history
7John RaveLRF54.7446.785No MLB historyNo history
8Nick LoftinR3B51.7108.685No MLB historyNo history
9Kyle IsbelLCF34.5916.652No MLB historyNo history
1Carter Jensen C · L.239 / .790 · 27 HRvs hand .837 · No MLB history · No history73H-Score2Bobby Witt Jr. SS · R.281 / .800 · 18 HRvs hand .783 · No MLB history · No history75H-Score3Vinnie Pasquantino 1B · L.249 / .761 · 17 HRvs hand .826 · No MLB history · No history66H-Score4Maikel Garcia 3B · R.268 / .715 · 3 HRvs hand .650 · No MLB history · No history47H-Score5Michael Massey 2B · L.274 / .735 · 13 HRvs hand .721 · No MLB history · No history58H-Score6Salvador Perez DH · R.229 / .657 · 21 HRvs hand .628 · No MLB history · No history53H-Score7John Rave RF · L.232 / .744 · 6 HRvs hand .785 · No MLB history · No history54H-Score8Nick Loftin 3B · R.240 / .710 · 8 HRvs hand .685 · No MLB history · No history51H-Score9Kyle Isbel CF · L.224 / .591 · 6 HRvs hand .652 · No MLB history · No history34H-Score
Pittsburgh PiratesOfficial lineupvs RHP Randy Dobnak
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs RHPVs Dobnak (BvP)
1Konnor GriffinRSS48.7286.690No MLB historyNo history
2Brandon LoweL2B73.82435.9100-for-4Very small sample
3Bryan ReynoldsSLF74.78917.7790-for-2Very small sample
4Oneil CruzLCF74.85420.858No MLB historyNo history
5Nick GonzalesR3B52.7556.790No MLB historyNo history
6Ryan O'HearnLRF63.77018.8390-for-2Very small sample
7Ronny SimonSRF—.6481.612No MLB historyNo history
8Spencer HorwitzL1B52.70810.734No MLB historyNo history
9Henry DavisRC47.58510.658No MLB historyNo history
1Konnor Griffin SS · R.272 / .728 · 6 HRvs hand .690 · No MLB history · No history48H-Score2Brandon Lowe 2B · L.260 / .824 · 35 HRvs hand .910 · 0-for-4 · Very small sample73H-Score3Bryan Reynolds LF · S.261 / .789 · 17 HRvs hand .779 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample74H-Score4Oneil Cruz CF · L.280 / .854 · 20 HRvs hand .858 · No MLB history · No history74H-Score5Nick Gonzales 3B · R.303 / .755 · 6 HRvs hand .790 · No MLB history · No history52H-Score6Ryan O'Hearn RF · L.265 / .770 · 18 HRvs hand .839 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample63H-Score7Ronny Simon RF · S.254 / .648 · 1 HRvs hand .612 · No MLB history · No history—H-Score8Spencer Horwitz 1B · L.244 / .708 · 10 HRvs hand .734 · No MLB history · No history52H-Score9Henry Davis C · R.172 / .585 · 10 HRvs hand .658 · No MLB history · No history47H-Score

Team comparison

OffenseKCKC·PITPIT
AVG.248 8th.253 5th
OPS.718 17th.734 6th
Home runs170 21st186 13th
Runs690 22nd767 6th
OBP.316 18th.330 4th
SLG.402 14th.404 9th
PitchingKCKC·PITPIT
1stMLB rank30th
ERA4.77vs4.14
KCPIT
WHIP1.41vs1.30
KCPIT
K/97.4vs9.3
KCPIT
HR Allowed210vs155
KCPIT
BullpenKCKC·PITPIT
1stMLB rank30th
Bullpen ERA4.53vs3.95
no league rank
Bullpen WHIP1.43vs1.30
no league rank
Saves38vs41
KCPIT
ResultsKCKC·PITPIT
+31723rd
Run differential
+4446th
69–93 Record82–80
4–6 Last 106–4
Last 10 games
Kansas City Royals (4–6)
L
W
L
L
L
W
W
L
L
W
Pittsburgh Pirates (6–4)
W
L
L
W
L
L
W
W
W
W
2026 head-to-head
Season Series
3—0
3 Games Played

Frequently asked

Who is starting for the Royals?+
Randy Dobnak (2.73 ERA, 3–4) is listed as the starter.
Who is starting for the Pirates?+
Paul Skenes (3.78 ERA, 10–11) is listed as the starter.
What time does the game start?+
6:40 PM ET at PNC Park.
Where is the game being played?+
PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Are the lineups confirmed?+
Not as official league cards. The orders shown are the current projected or last-posted lineups.
How have the Royals and Pirates performed head-to-head?+
Season series: Pirates 0–3 this season.
How do the starters compare on P-Score?+
Randy Dobnak is at 53; Paul Skenes is at 65. P-Score is PitcherStat's 0–100 season index for qualified starters.