Last-place Pirates finish a 6-0 homestand by shutting out Cardinals in 3 straight games

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pirates didn't look like a last-place team during a 6-0 homestand in which they outscored the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals by 43-4.

“It was special,” shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa said after a 5-0 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday. "These aren’t just wins. These are dominating wins. It’s nice. You build off the confidence of domination of home. It’s hard not to feed off that.”

Despite their season-high six-game winning streak, the Pirates are 38-50 — including 26-24 since Don Kelly was promoted from bench coach on May 8 after manager Derek Shelton was fired.

Pittsburgh was 14 games behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs entering play on Wednesday. The Pirates became the first big league team since at least 1901 to score 43 runs or more and allow four runs or fewer in a six-game span. It was their first perfect homestand of six or more games since the Pirates were 7-0 against the Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers from June 28 to July 4, 2004.

The Pirates hadn't pitched three straight shutouts since June 14-16, 2015, and hadn't accomplished the feat against one team in a series since Oct. 2-3, 1976, also against the Cardinals.

Mitch Keller, Dennis Santana and Isaac Mattson combined on a six-hitter.

“It’s just a testament to how hard we’re working and the scouting that we’re going through,” said Keller, who allowed five hits in seven innings. “We just have a really good plan going in, which I think gives confidence to everybody when they know what the plan is, and when we execute it, it works.”

St. Louis hadn't been shut out in three consecutive games since Sept. 18-21, 2022, against Cincinnati and San Diego.

“The starting rotation has been phenomenal,” Kelly said. “And then the guys in the ’pen did such a great job in such a tough stretch, too, against quality teams.”

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Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Isaac Mattson, right, celebrates with catcher Henry Davis, after getting the final out of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, left, celebrates with left fielder Tommy Pham, after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in a baseball game, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Tommy Pham hits an RBI single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Tommy Pham, right, is greeted by Spencer Horwitz, left, after scoring during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)