Tigers’ playoff chase dinged by Pirates’ rallying win

PITTSBURGH — Brandon Lowe homered off Detroit closer Kenley Jansen with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday.

Rafael Flores Jr. homered twice for Pittsburgh, including a tying shot off Jansen (3-5) with one out in the ninth. Lowe followed two batters later with a towering shot to right field that clanged high off the foul pole.

The homer was the 27th this season for Lowe, the most in club history by a second baseman. It was the 83rd this year by the Pirates at PNC Park, the most at the venue since it opened in 2001.

Mason Montgomery (5-3) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth as the Pirates went 4-2 during a six-game homestand against Boston and Detroit.

Pirates ace Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young winner, allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings with four walks and five strikeouts. The towering 6-foot-6 right-hander has a 5.05 ERA over his last 16 starts dating to May 17.

The Pirates gave Skenes a full week to recover following a loss to Miami in which his fastball velocity dipped to 95 mph, well below the standard he set during the first two years of his career and a tick off from the upper-90s that had been the norm most of this season.

While Skenes did look a little fresher — he touched 98 mph and frequently was in the 96-97 range — his command remained scattershot. He threw 46 of his 81 pitches for strikes and was pulled after giving up an RBI single to Gleyber Torres with one out in the fifth.

It was the sixth time Skenes failed to pitch at least five innings this season. He had five starts of fewer than five innings pitched across his first two years in the majors combined.

Kevin McGonigle drove in two runs for the Tigers, who have lost five of six.

Pirates: Begin a nine-game road trip on Friday in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.