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Soto earned the save in Sunday's 4-1 win over the Blue Jays, allowing one walk with one strikeout in a scoreless ninth inning.
Soto was able to preserve a three-run lead in the ninth inning despite walking one and hitting another batter while throwing just 10 of 22 pitches for strikes. So far in May, the southpaw has converted four of five save chances and held opponents scoreless in seven of nine appearances. For the year, he's recorded five saves and six holds to go along with a 2.22 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 30:10 K:BB across 24.1 innings.
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Pirates' Esmerlyn Valdez: Hits first career homer
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Valdez went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 4-1 win over the Blue Jays.
Valdez launched his first career major-league home run off Chase Lee in the top of the sixth inning. It also marked the 22-year-old's first career hit, as he's gone just 1-for-8 through his first three games with the Pirates. While he's been substituted for twice, Valdez has started each game for the big club since making his debut Friday.
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Pirates' Mitch Keller: Posts quality start in win
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Keller (5-2) earned the win against the Blue Jays on Sunday, allowing one run on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts over six innings.
Keller allowed three baserunners and a run in the fourth inning but was otherwise solid, generating 11 whiffs on 101 pitches while limiting the Blue Jays to one extra-base hit. It was a nice rebound for the 30-year-old after allowing 10 earned runs over his previous two outings, and he's now logged seven quality starts while working into the sixth frame in nine of 11 appearances this season. He'll carry a 3.64 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 46:19 K:BB across 64.1 innings into a home matchup against the Twins next weekend.
General manager Ben Cherington said Sunday that Jones (elbow) will return to Pittsburgh and throw a bullpen session Tuesday before the Pirates determine whether he'll return from the 60-day injured list during the upcoming week, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
After making his previous two rehab starts at Double-A Altoona, Jones shifted his minor-league assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis on Saturday, when he tossed 76 pitches (47 strikes) while allowing three runs on two hits and three walks with six strikeouts across 4.1 innings. Jones missed all of last season due to a UCL injury in his right elbow that required surgery in May, but he's looked strong across his five rehab starts, logging a 2.89 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 24:6 K:BB across 18.2 innings. If Jones checks out fine following Tuesday's side session, he could be activated from the IL as soon as Thursday.
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Pirates' Jhostynxon Garcia: Resting up Sunday
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Garcia is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.
Garcia will head to the bench for the series finale while the Pirates go with Oneil Cruz at designated hitter and Bryan Reynolds, Jake Mangum and Esmerlyn Valdez in the outfield from left to right. Before being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis on May 18, Garcia had missed time earlier this month due to a back issue, prompting manager Don Kelly to note that the Pirates don't want to overextend the young outfielder too much until the back injury is further behind him, per Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Nonetheless, Garcia is off to a solid start since his promotion, going 5-for-16 with a walk while starting four of the last six games.
Pirates' Jake Mangum: Seeing steady starts since return
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Mangum will start in center field and bat eighth in Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.
Since returning from the injured list last Sunday, Mangum has drawn starts in five of the last seven games. The Pirates recently called up Jhostynxon Garcia and Esmerlyn Valdez from Triple-A Indianapolis to fortify their outfield while Ryan O'Hearn (quadriceps) is on the shelf, but Mangum could still have a path to at least a semi-regular role if Oneil Cruz continues to make more of his starts at designated hitter in place of the struggling Marcell Ozuna rather than in center field.
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Pirates' Henry Davis: Part of timeshare with Rodriguez
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Davis is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.
Though he's seen his playing time pick back up since Joey Bart (foot) landed on the injured list May 12, Davis looks to be part of a timeshare at catcher with Endy Rodriguez. Davis and Rodriguez have now alternated turns behind the dish over the Bucs' last six games.
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Pirates' Marcell Ozuna: On bench for series finale
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Ozuna is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.
Though he drove in both of the Pirates' runs in Saturday's 5-2 loss to Toronto, Ozuna will find himself on the bench for the third time in six contests for the series finale. The Pirates will deploy Oneil Cruz as their designated hitter in place of Ozuna, who may be fading into a part-time role while he's struggled to a .189/.279/.314 slash line across 179 plate appearances on the season.
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Pirates' Konnor Griffin: Idle for series finale
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Griffin is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.
Griffin carried an eight-game hitting streak into the weekend, but after going 0-for-7 with a walk and three strikeouts through the first two games in Toronto, he'll be rested for the series finale. Jared Triolo will replace the star rookie at shortstop and bat ninth.
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Pirates' Marcell Ozuna: Knocks in two runs
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Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI on Saturday against the Blue Jays.
Ozuna doubled in the sixth inning to drive in his first run of the day, and he drove in another on a groundout two frames later. He's hit only .233 since the start of May, though he does have 12 RBI and eight runs scored across 17 games this month. Ozuna has also started only three of the team's last six games, with Oneil Cruz shifting to DH to allow for Jhostynxon Garcia and Esmerlyn Valdez to play regularly in the outfield.
Skenes (6-4) took the loss against Toronto on Saturday, allowing four runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out two batters over five-plus innings.
It didn't take long for Toronto to get to Skenes, as George Springer led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo homer. Skenes recovered to get through the fifth frame with just that one run on his ledger, but he fell apart in the sixth. In that inning, the Blue Jays opened with four straight hits before Skenes was pulled, and he was ultimately charged with three runs. This was the second straight uncharacteristically mediocre start for the right-hander, who gave up five runs in five innings against Philadelphia in his previous outing. That's pushed his season ERA up to 3.00, and he'll look to get back on track his next time out, which lines up to be a home start against the Cubs.
Pirates' Bubba Chandler: Strikes out 11 in losing effort
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Chandler (1-6) took the loss against the Blue Jays on Friday, allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts over five innings.
Chandler allowed three runs in a third inning that included the leadoff runner reaching via catcher's interference and an error. While it marked his fifth loss over his past six outings, the 23-year-old flashed his upside by generating a whopping 22 swinging strikes on 99 pitches and notching a career-high 11 punchouts. He owns a 4.79 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 47:34 K:BB across 47 innings and lines up for a home matchup against the Cubs next week.
Pirates' Esmerlyn Valdez: Hitting seventh in MLB debut
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Valdez will start in right field and bat seventh Friday in Toronto in his major-league debut.
Valdez received his first big-league promotion after slashing .253/.381/.506 with 10 homers in 46 games with Triple-A Indianapolis this season. The 22-year-old is not guaranteed everyday playing time with the Pirates, so it would behoove him to get off to a good start.
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Pirates' Bryan Reynolds: Absent from Pittsburgh lineup
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Reynolds is not in the lineup for Friday's game in Toronto.
This is just the third day off this season for Reynolds. He came off the bench on each of his first two days off and could do so again Friday. Jake Mangum will start in left field for the Pirates in the series opener.
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