Baltimore Orioles at Pittsburgh Pirates: Final Score & Recap

The Pittsburgh Pirates handed the Baltimore Orioles a lopsided 8-2 defeat at PNC Park on April 5, 2026, turning what opened as a near-even contest into a decisive home victory. The DiamondIQ model entered the game assigning Pittsburgh a 54 percent win probability, but that figure climbed steadily and closed at 100 percent as the Pirates scored six of their eight runs across the first two innings.

The game's most consequential sequence arrived in the bottom of the second, where Pittsburgh did the bulk of its damage against Baltimore starter Chris Bassitt. Ryan O'Hearn had already set the tone with a first-inning home run off Bassitt, a swing the DiamondIQ model valued at plus 4.4 percent win probability. The second inning compounded the damage significantly: Oneil Cruz singled for a plus 4.0 percent swing, O'Hearn followed with a double worth plus 5.5 percent, and Konnor Griffin's flyout — likely a sacrifice or run-scoring play that advanced the Pittsburgh cause — generated a plus 9.9 percent win-probability addition, the single largest play of the game. Baltimore's best opportunity to stem the tide came in the top of the second, but Dylan Beavers struck out against Braxton Ashcraft, a minus 5.5 percent swing that effectively buried any Orioles momentum before it could form.

Among the standout performers, Griffin finished as the game's top batter by WPA at plus 13.4 percent, while O'Hearn contributed plus 9.7 percent with a strong 2.9 RE24, indicating he delivered with runners on base. Cruz added plus 5.9 percent and a 2.5 RE24 of his own. On the mound, Ashcraft was the clear pitching winner, posting a plus 12.9 percent WPA as he neutralized Baltimore's lineup throughout his outing, with Cade Povich and José Urquidy contributing negligibly in relief.