PITTSBURGH (AP) — Konnor Griffin hit a two-run single to key a five-run second inning and Henry Davis tacked on a two-run homer to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers 7-4 on Thursday.
Milwaukee, a major league-best 95-58, leads the Los Angeles Dodgers by two games for the top NL seed and holds the tiebreaker.
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Milwaukee Brewers' Bo Naylor (14) watches his solo home run off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Luke Weaver during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Milwaukee Brewers' Luis Lara reacts after striking out against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mason Montgomery to end the top of the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Henry Davis, right, rounds third to greetings from third base coach Tony Beasley after hitting a two-run home run off Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Aaron Ashby during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Henry Davis, right, celebrates with Ronny Simon (63) after hitting a two-run home run in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh (76-77) is closing in on missing the playoffs for the 11th consecutive season. Since 1992, the Pirates' only postseason appearances were from 2013-15.
Griffin's opposite-field liner to left to put the Pirates ahead 2-1. Oneil Cruz followed with a two-run single and Brandon Lowe was hit by a Kyle Harrison pitch with the bases loaded.
Bo Naylor hit into a run-scoring forceout in the sixth and had a solo homer in the eighth off Luke Weaver that followed Sal Frelick's sacrifice fly.
Davis homered in the eighth against Andy Ashby.
Mason Montgomery got four outs for his 14th save in 16 chances, extending his scoreless innings streak to 21 2/3 innings.
Harrison (10-5) allowed five runs — four earned — in 1 2/3 innings and in his last four outings has given up 24 runs over nine innings.
Khristian Curtis (2-0) gave up one run in 3 1/3 innings.
Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell was not in the lineup for a second straight game because of stiffness in the left side of his neck. He doubled as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning.
Brewers: RHP Dustin May (7-9. 4.49 ERA) starts Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Baltimore.
Pirates RHP Paul Skenes (10-11, 3.78), 1-3 in his last nine starts, faces visiting Kansas City and RHP Randy Dobnak (3-4, 2.73 ERA) on Friday night.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Milwaukee Brewers' Bo Naylor (14) watches his solo home run off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Luke Weaver during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Milwaukee Brewers' Luis Lara reacts after striking out against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mason Montgomery to end the top of the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Henry Davis, right, rounds third to greetings from third base coach Tony Beasley after hitting a two-run home run off Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Aaron Ashby during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Henry Davis, right, celebrates with Ronny Simon (63) after hitting a two-run home run in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market rallied to its best day in six weeks Thursday after falling oil prices and easing pressure from the bond market helped Wall Street reverse many of its moves from the prior day.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.1% for just its second rise in the last nine days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 316 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.7%.
Stocks got a boost after the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil slid 1% to settle at $104.82. That’s down from the nearly $110 it reached earlier in the week on worries that the war with Iran will keep oil bottled up in the Middle East instead of going to customers worldwide.
Brent is of course still much more expensive than the $72 per barrel that it cost earlier this summer, but Thursday’s drop helped pull yields lower in the bond market and removed some pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.93% from 5.01% late Wednesday.
Higher yields make it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, from the U.S. government to people looking to buy houses to businesses wanting to build data centers. That in turn slows the economy.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised the short-term interest rate that it controls, the federal funds rate, by a quarter of a percentage point for its first hike in more than three years. Officials also signaled they may raise the federal funds rate one more time this year as they try to get the nation’s high inflation under control.
The signals sent Wall Street on a roller coaster. Stocks initially remained higher for the day after the Fed made its announcement Wednesday. They then slid sharply before recovering a chunk of the losses before trading ended.
On the upside for markets, the shift to higher interest rates built confidence that the Fed is committed to getting inflation back to its target of 2%. Questions had begun to bubble earlier about whether it would feel pressure from President Donald Trump, who is calling for lower interest rates. And the short-term cost of pain for the economy could be worth it if it gets inflation under control following years of its staying too high.
On the downside for markets, higher rates undercut prices for stocks and other investments. When investors earn more in interest from bonds, which are considered safer investments, they’re less willing to pay high prices for other investments. That’s beyond the slowing effect that higher rates have on the economy in hopes of removing fuel for inflation.
Some reports on Thursday signaled the U.S. economy may be strong enough to withstand higher interest rates. One said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. Another said that manufacturing growth in the mid-Atlantic region was stronger than economists expected.
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said Wednesday that a strengthening economy is one of the reasons Fed officials moved to raise interest rates after keeping them on hold earlier this year.
He also cited “geopolitics,” along with the threat that the increases in prices it’s causing could filter out and push up inflation elsewhere. That’s likely a nod to the war with Iran and its effect on oil prices.
On Wall Street, stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry continued to rebound following their worldwide slide on Monday. Nvidia climbed 2.5%, and Advanced Micro Devices rose 6.4%.
That was even though OpenAI disclosed six more reports of “unexpected or concerning” behavior in AI models. Leaders of the AI industry over the weekend called for a slowdown in development to address safety issues for humanity
Stocks of several homebuilders also rose, even though a report showed the industry broke ground on fewer new homes last month than economists expected. The housing industry has been one of the hardest hit by the climb for the 10-year Treasury’s yield, which topped 5% this week for the first time since 2023 and has pulled mortgage rates higher.
Thursday’s ease in yields helped D.R. Horton rise 1.5%, while PulteGroup added 1.1%. Rival Lennar erased an early loss and climbed 1.7% after reporting weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 85.95 points to 7,637.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 316.14 to 51,778.04, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 439.87 to 26,418.30.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe following a weaker finish in Asia.
London’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.2% after the Bank of England decided to keep its interest rates on hold.
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Screens display a news conference held by Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Screens display financial information on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
