The final hotdog of the 2024 campaign was sold at PNC Park on Thursday afternoon, as the Pirates closed out the home portion of their schedule with a 5-2 loss to the National League Central Division champion Brewers.

Mitch Keller, who was having a pretty darn good year until, like a lot of Buccos, mediocrity caught up to him sometime in August, was the starting pitcher of record on Thursday, going five innings and allowing three runs on six hits, while striking out six batters and walking two.

Keller took the loss, even though a win could have given him a 12-11 mark for the season. Instead, that record is reversed thanks to the Bucco lineup that couldn’t get much going against the Milwaukee pitching staff, including starter Aaron Civale, who pitched six innings and allowed no runs on three hits while striking out five hitters and walking one.

The Brewers methodically built a 5-0 lead over six innings.

The Brew Crew plated its first run in the top of the third inning when second baseman Brice Turang grounded out to first, allowing Joey Ortiz to score from third.

In the top of the fifth inning, rightfielder Sal Frelick scored on a double by Milwaukee catcher Eric Haase. Later in the frame, Haase scored the Brewers third run on a single by Turang.

Keller exited after five innings, and the bullpen allowed two more runs in the top of the sixth. Brice Perkins hit a ground rule double that scored Rhys Hoskins. Perkins then scored Milwaukee’s fifth run on a double by Ortiz.

The Pirates scored their only runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on a two-run home run by Bryan De La Cruz. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh’s bats couldn’t rally over the final two frames, and the home fans left disappointed.

The Pirates finished 39-42 at PNC Park in 2024. As for the attendance, just over 1.7 million tickets were sold, even if a good bit of them were never used; for that, you can thank the Pirates horrendous performance over the final two months of what once looked to be an exciting race to the postseason finish line. The Pirates were 55-52 shortly after a trade deadline that saw them make several popular acquistions–including De La Cruz and Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Unfortunately, the Bucs immediately went into a slide that included a 10-game losing streak. What was a 55-52 record and just a few games back of a wildcard spot in late July is now a 74-85 mark and last place in the division in late September thanks to a 19-33 stretch.

The Pirates have three more games on the road before they can put a lid on the 2024 season. They travel to historic Yankee Stadium this weekend for a three-game series against the American League Eastern Division champions.