Angels 6, Pirates 1: Kikuchi's First Win of 2026 Comes in Pittsburgh

Six scoreless, and the first win since last September

September 5, 2026 - Pittsburgh - Yusei Kikuchi threw six scoreless innings Saturday at PNC Park, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1.

It was Kikuchi's first win of 2026. The last one came on September 24, 2025, when he gave up one run in five innings in a 3-2 Angels win over Kansas City. In between: left shoulder inflammation that kept him out from late April until August 23, then two starts that did not end with a W. Saturday was the third start back. He used it.

Los Angeles scored one in the fourth, two in the fifth, and three in the seventh. Pittsburgh's only run came in the eighth, after Kikuchi was already in the dugout with the win lined up. The Angels finished with 12 hits. The Pirates had eight and never stacked them in the same inning against the starter.

Ashcraft through 3 1/3, then Meckler found left

Braxton Ashcraft (14-6) struck out seven of the first 10 Angels and allowed one hit through 3 1/3 innings. Then Wade Meckler doubled into shallow left. Moisés Ballesteros sent a two-out single under Nick Gonzales's glove. Meckler scored. 1-0.

Josh Lowe led off the fifth with a 410-foot homer to center, his 11th. Denzer Guzman singled, moved up on Adam Frazier's bunt, and scored on the first of Zach Neto's three singles. 3-0. Ashcraft's final: five innings, seven hits, three earned, no walks, nine strikeouts, 67 pitches. Nine punchouts and a loss is a hard card to accept. The Angels did the damage after he had already looked like the better starter.

Kikuchi walks the sixth, then shuts it

Pittsburgh put the first two on in the sixth. Esmerlyn Valdez walked. Bryan Reynolds singled. Kikuchi struck out Oneil Cruz, forced Gonzales into a force, and got Rafael Flores Jr. to fly to center. The threat died at 3-0.

Kikuchi (1-5) finished six innings, five hits, three walks, six strikeouts, 89 pitches. Ryan Watson threw a clean seventh. The Angels tacked on three in the seventh off Isaac Mattson. Mike Trout singled through the left side for one run. Meckler doubled to right-center for two more. 6-0. Meckler finished 2-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI. Neto was 3-for-5. Trout went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Reynolds finally got Pittsburgh on the board in the eighth. Two outs, 421 feet over the right-field wall, his 16th homer and first since July 28. It was the Pirates' only run. Reynolds went 3-for-3 with a walk. Everyone else in the Pittsburgh order spent the night watching Kikuchi work.

What 6-1 means in September

The Angels are 54-88. The Pirates are 70-73. Neither is building a parade. Kikuchi's first win still matters for a rotation that spent half a season without him. Ashcraft's 14-6 record took a dent because three runs in five innings is enough when the other starter throws six zeros.

Paul Skenes (9-11, 3.97) was set for Sunday's finale against Walbert Ureña (9-9, 2.85). That is the better pitching matchup on paper. Saturday belonged to the 35-year-old who had not won since last fall.

AthX Engine put Kikuchi at 20 pitching fantasy points and the Angels at 14 team FP, fourth on Saturday's team board. Meckler scored 7 hitting FP. Reynolds led Pittsburgh's bats at 9 hitting FP in a loss. The Pirates' team score was -5. Fantasy points follow the shut-down start. They do not set a share price.

Marketplace

*Sources: ESPN recap, MLB Gameday box, Associated Press, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*