Pirates offense just embarrassed the Steelers in the funniest possible way

For years, Pittsburgh sports fans have been able to count on at least one thing: If one of the city’s teams was going to have trouble scoring, it was probably going to be the Pirates.

Not anymore, apparently.

On a Sunday that perfectly encapsulated just how bizarre the 2026 sports calendar has become, the Pirates scored four runs in a baseball game while the Steelers scored three points in a football game.

Yes, you read that correctly. Pirates: 4. Steelers: 3.

Four runs isn't even an offensive explosion. Yet somehow, the franchise that spent years turning three-run deficits into seemingly insurmountable mountains managed to outscore the Steelers on the same afternoon.

And unlike the Steelers, the Pirates actually won. Pittsburgh completed a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals with a 4-3 comeback victory Sunday at PNC Park, improving to 79-77 and winning for the 14th time in its last 20 games.

The Pirates briefly trailed 1-0 before Oneil Cruz launched his 20th home run of the season in the fourth inning. The homer also made Cruz just the third player in franchise history, joining Barry Bonds and Andrew McCutchen, to post three consecutive 20-homer, 20-steal seasons.

Spencer Horwitz gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead in the sixth before Vinnie Pasquantino put Kansas City back in front with a two-run homer in the seventh. After Ryan O'Hearn opened the eighth with a single, Rafael Flores Jr. drove a Nate Pearson slider over the left-field wall for his 10th home run of the year, giving the Pirates a 4-3 lead that Mason Montgomery preserved for his 16th save.

Four runs. Turns out that was one more than Pittsburgh's football team could muster.

A few hours later in Foxborough, the Steelers' offense was essentially nonexistent in a 20-3 loss to the New England Patriots.

Their only points came on a 56-yard Chris Boswell field goal as the first half expired. The Steelers finished with 235 total yards, went 2-for-12 on third down and failed on their only trip into the red zone. Aaron Rodgers completed 23 of 39 passes for 187 yards with an interception while taking four sacks.

Pirates’ offensive progress ultimately came too late to save their season

There is, of course, some painful irony on the Pirates' side of this joke.

This is the season their offense finally became respectable. They have shattered the franchise's single-season home run record. Brandon Lowe has supplied legitimate middle-of-the-order power. Cruz has produced when healthy. Young hitters such as Konnor Griffin and Flores have offered reasons to believe the lineup could be even better moving forward.

And after all those years of watching pitching staffs receive virtually no margin for error because the lineup couldn't score?

The Pirates finally learned how to hit, and they're still going to miss the playoffs. That's what makes Sunday's comparison simultaneously hilarious and frustrating.

For one afternoon, at least, nobody in Pittsburgh could make fun of the Pirates for failing to score. They scored more than the Steelers.

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