MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Pirates this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• Pirates Stat of the Day, August 2021

Oct. 3: Reds 6, Pirates 3 -- Sweepless in Steel City
With their loss to the Reds in the regular-season finale, the Pirates ended their 2021 campaign without a series sweep. They became the sixth team in the divisional era (1969) to not record a sweep of two games or more in a 162-game season, which last happened in '19 (Orioles).

Oct. 2: Pirates 8, Reds 6 -- Cruz-in' around the bases
After Oneil Cruz notched his first big league hit in the fifth inning, he made a mad dash around the bases on Wilmer Difo's two-run triple in the next at-bat. Cruz was clocked at a 30.4 ft./sec. sprint speed on the trip from first to home, which is above the 30 ft./sec. "elite" threshold.

Oct. 1: Pirates 9, Reds 2 -- Crowe caps '21 with gem, history
Wil Crowe pitched six scoreless innings vs. the Reds in his 25th start of the season, which marks the most starts made by any pitcher on the Pirates this season. The last time a rookie pitcher had the Bucs' outright lead in starts made in a season was 1949, when Bill Werle led the club with 29 starts.

Sept. 30: Cubs 9, Pirates 0 -- Bucs' 100th loss
With Thursday's loss to the Cubs, the Pirates became the fourth team to reach the 100-loss mark in 2021, alongside the D-backs, Orioles and Rangers. That ties an MLB record for the most teams to hit 100 losses, matching the ‘02 and ‘19 seasons, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

Sept. 29: Cubs 3, Pirates 2 -- Contreras' hard-hitting velo
Roansy Contreras pitched three scoreless innings in his MLB debut on Wednesday, reaching 97.8 mph with his fastball. No other Pirates pitcher has hit 97.8 mph during a start this season.

Sept. 28: Pirates 8, Cubs 6 -- Park finds consistency
Hoy Park hit a game-tying RBI triple on Tuesday against the Cubs, marking the eighth game in which he's hit safely over his past nine. Before that span, the versatile infielder had hit safely in eight of the previous 28, a stretch over which he hit a meager .143.

Sept. 27: Reds 13, Pirates 1 -- Not-so-Great American Ball Park
The Pirates allowed five homers to the Reds, raising their total yielded at Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park this season to 26. That's the most surrendered by Pittsburgh's pitchers at any away ballpark by a wide margin in 2021 (next is 15 at Atlanta's Truist Park), and it's tied for the most afforded at any visiting park in a single season in team history (matching the 26 allowed at the Polo Grounds in 1956).

Sept. 26: Pirates 6, Phillies 0 -- Tucker wastes no time
Cole Tucker homered on the first pitch of the game from Phillies prospect Hans Crouse, becoming the first Pirates player to go deep on the very first pitch of a ballgame since ... Cole Tucker. The outfielder also homered on the first pitch of an Aug. 3, 2020, game against Twins righty Lewis Thorpe. Amazingly, those two first-pitch home runs account for half of Tucker's four career homers.

"I was talking a lot of smack," Tucker said of his approach to facing Crouse. "I don't know what I was saying or if it's cool to say, but I was like, 'We're gonna send this into the ... whatever.' It's his first pitch in the big leagues, you know? When I got back to the dugout, it was kind of just pandemonium and all the guys were like, 'You were saying that.' So that was fun."

Sept. 25: Phillies 3, Pirates 0 -- Swinging early
The Pirates were shut out on just 97 pitches by Phillies starter Ranger Suárez, marking the fourth time this season that an opponent has held Pittsburgh scoreless on fewer than 100 pitches. It's happened only twice to every other MLB team combined.

Prior to this season, the Bucs hadn't been shut out on fewer than 100 pitches since April 14, 2015. The four such games this season are the most in a single season in Pirates history, surpassing the three times it happened during the 1998 campaign.

Sept. 24: Phillies 8, Pirates 6 -- Howard cruises
Sam Howard thrived in his role as the opener against the Phillies, striking out all three batters he faced in a perfect first inning. Though the opener role has become more popular in recent years, Howard still became just the fifth starter in MLB history -- and the first in the National League -- to pitch at least one inning and strike out every batter he faced.

The others to accomplish the feat are Chad Green (2019), Ryne Stanek (2018), Sergio Romo (2018) and Ernie Shore (1915). Stanek struck out all five batters he faced, while the other three pitchers -- like Howard -- pitched exactly one inning.

Sept. 23: Phillies 12, Pirates 6 -- Overton overdue
Pirates starter Connor Overton collected not only the first hit of his MLB career in his first plate appearance with a two-run single in the second, but it was his first base knock since high school -- a span of nearly a decade. Overton logged only seven plate appearances over six seasons in the Minors, going 0-for-5 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt. He also did not register a single plate appearance during his three collegiate seasons at Old Dominion from 2012-14.

Sept. 21: Pirates 6, Reds 2 -- Coming in hot
Nick Mears got out of the tightest jam in Tuesday's game, wiggling out of a bases-loaded jam with just a four-seamer and a curveball in his arsenal. The heater, however, was ... heated: Mears topped out at 97.7 mph, which is tied for the second-fastest fastball velocity of his young career. The only faster pitch was a 98 mph four-seamer to Justin Turner on Aug. 16, 2021.

Sept. 20: Reds 9, Pirates 5 -- Can't keep the Reds in the yard
The Pirates allowed four home runs to the Reds on Monday night, bringing Cincinnati's total against the Bucs this season to 27. That's the most homers hit by any team against Pittsburgh this year -- and the two teams still have five more games to play against each other.

Sept. 19: Marlins 6, Pirates 5 (10 innings) -- Kranick gets K's
Max Kranick recorded six consecutive strikeouts from the first through the third innings on Sunday vs. the Marlins, marking his most K's in a start. It's also the first time since June 10, 2013, that a Pirates pitcher has struck out at least six consecutive batters, as Francisco Liriano struck out six in the same span as Kranick (second out of first to second out of third).

Sept. 18: Pirates 6, Marlins 3 -- Wilson gets support
The Pirates put up six runs behind starter Bryse Wilson, and it's been a trend against the Marlins for the right-hander. Over three career appearances against Miami, Wilson has accumulated 46 runs of support, including 29 on Sept. 9, 2020, while with the Braves, though he entered as a reliever in the historic blowout win.

Sept. 17: Pirates 2, Marlins 1 -- Stratton is clutch
Not only is Chris Stratton clutch in save situations as he was on Friday, but he's also eaten a ton of innings for the Pirates over the past two seasons as he's filled a variety of roles. Stratton's 103 1/3 innings pitched since the start of 2020 are the most by any reliever in MLB.

Sept. 16: Reds 1, Pirates 0 -- Bucs use bevy of arms in '21
Connor Overton, who made his first MLB start on Thursday, was the 35th Pirates pitcher to appear in a game this season. That set a new franchise mark for the most pitchers used in a single season, besting the 34 pitchers Pittsburgh used in 2019.

Sept. 15: Pirates 5, Reds 4 -- Keller's rocket single
Mitch Keller lined a single in his first at-bat that had a 99.1 mph exit velocity, according to Statcast. It tied for the hardest hit of his career and one of only three hard-hit balls he's produced in his career -- all of which have come this season.

Sept. 14: Pirates 6, Reds 5 -- Peters 'changes' game
Dillon Peters held the Reds scoreless over five innings in the series opener, and it was largely due to a strong changeup. The left-hander drew a career-high 10 swings and misses on his changeup against a right-handed-heavy Cincinnati lineup.

Sept. 12: Nationals 6, Pirates 2 -- Wilson notches 1st career RBI
Bryse Wilson laid down a rare run-scoring sacrifice bunt in the second inning on Sunday against the Nationals to plate Wilmer Difo from third base. It marked the first Major League RBI for Wilson, who has pitched in four seasons for two NL teams.

Sept. 11: Pirates 10, Nationals 7 -- 426 feet for Reynolds
Bryan Reynolds cranked a Statcast-projected 426-foot homer for the Pirates on Saturday, marking his 8th career home run projected at 425 feet or more. All but one of those have come this season.

Sept. 10: Pirates 4, Nationals 3 -- Sweet relief for Ponce
Cody Ponce pitched three hitless innings in relief of starter Steven Brault, who exited with an injury. It's the first time in Ponce's career that he threw three or more innings without allowing a hit; manager Derek Shelton said the performance was keyed by the right-hander's willingness to attack hitters and not be picky.

Sept. 8: Tigers 5, Pirates 1 -- Hayes fitting in as leadoff man
Manager Derek Shelton said he wanted to get Ke'Bryan Hayes going at the plate when he moved him into the leadoff spot, and much to his delight, it's working. With his leadoff single in the first inning against Tigers start Matt Manning, Hayes now has seven hits in his four games at the top of the order.

Sept. 7: Pirates 3, Tigers 2 -- Homer streak snapped
While the Pirates claimed their second consecutive victory, they did snap their home run streak, as none of their 11 hits against the Tigers went out of the yard. Pittsburgh homered in six straight games with nine long balls entering Tuesday, falling just short of tying the season high seven-game home run streak it established from July 7-17.

Sept. 6: Pirates 6, Tigers 3 -- Stallings making mark with bat
Jacob Stallings may be having a career year behind the plate, but he's also making his mark in the batter's box. He finished 2-for-4 in the series opener and has now reached base safely in 24 of his last 26 starts behind the plate. Stallings also extended his hitting streak to five games.

Sept. 5: Cubs 11, Pirates 8 -- Tsutsugo going for extra bases
Yoshi Tsutsugo homered in the first inning for the second straight game. In his 19 games with the Pirates, Tsutsugo has collected 12 hits -- 11 of which have gone for extra bases: seven home runs, three doubles and one triple.

Sept. 4: Cubs 7, Pirates 6 -- Moran streaking to success
After picking up a hit in four at-bats in Chicago, Colin Moran extended his hitting streak to nine games, going 12-for-36 (.333) with two homers and eight RBIs during that span. The longest hitting streak of his big league career is a 12-gamer, accomplished in 2019.

Sept. 3: Cubs 6, Pirates 5 -- Alford muscles up
Anthony Alford's home run in the fifth inning was measured at 469 feet. It's his longest career home run -- see the Sept. 1 Stat of the Day below! -- and the fifth-longest home run by a Pirates player under Statcast tracking. Pedro Alvarez recorded the longest home run in team history, which he hit 479 feet on Oct. 4, 2015.

Alford finished the day with two homers, the second of which also topped the personal best he set on Sept. 1. It traveled 435 feet in the sixth inning, per Statcast.

Sept. 2: Cubs 6, Pirates 5 (11) -- Struggles against the Cubs
The Pirates have gone 4-9 against the Cubs this season, losing each of the last four games. The Bucs last won a game at Wrigley Field on May 9 and are 2-5 at the Friendly Confines in 2021.

Sept. 1: White Sox 6, Pirates 3 -- Alford sets personal best
Anthony Alford hit a Statcast-projected 430-foot home run in the seventh inning. The dinger off a sinker from Aaron Bummer was the longest homer of Alford's career.