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Soto retired the first two batters of the inning he faced before giving up a double to Nick Loftin. The lefty would then retire Tyler Tolbert on three strikes to end the inning, securing his 15th save of the season and his first of September. It was a nice relief appearance for Soto, who had allowed six earned runs in his previous two innings full innings of work.

Soto came in with the Pirates down 1-0 and erased their chances of winning by giving up two walks and two doubles. Soto also gave up two runs in the eighth inning Saturday to take a loss and a blown save, so as a free agent to be, he’s costing himself some money here at the end of the season.

Soto’s save was his 14th of the season. He recorded one strikeout in a perfect ninth inning. Soto’s save was just his third since June 16. He’s allowed two runs in 11 1/3 innings since the beginning of July.

It’s Soto’s second save in the last month, as he’s mostly been working in the eighth of late. Today, Mason Montgomery came into a tie game in the eighth and got four outs to send the game to extras. Soto then got the save chance after the Pirates scored twice in the top of the 10th. It’s possible that Soto will regain the closer’s role in Pittsburgh — he’s allowed just one run in 6 2/3 innings this month — but, for now, it should still be considered a committee, with Montgomery and others also in the mix. Yohan Ramírez might have a chance at a save in game two tonight.

Soto was summoned to protect a one-run lead in the final frame and immediately got into trouble when he surrendered a leadoff single to Christian Yelich before issuing a one-out walk to Brice Turang and a single to William Contreras. He somehow managed to wriggle out of the bases-loaded jam completely unscathed by coaxing a game-ending double-play ball from ensuing batter Andrew Vaughn. He’s converted 12 of 16 save chances for the Pirates this season to go along with a lackluster 4.05 ERA across 40 innings.

Brandon Marsh homered with one out and Bryson Stott singled with two outs, at which point Soto was pulled. Yohan Ramírez took over and allowed the inherited runner to score before finishing the inning. That might have created a save chance for Mason Montgomery, but the Pirates scored three times in the top of the ninth to take it away. Montgomery then pitched a hitless ninth with a four-run lead. Soto has blown two saves and given up runs in two other appearances this month, so it looks like the closer’s role in Pittsburgh is open again. Montgomery, Dennis Santana and Ramirez could all factor into the mix, with Carmen Mlodzinski also possibly picking up some multi-inning saves.

Soto took the mound in the ninth inning with a one-run lead and allowed the first two runners to reach before inducing a double play on a grounder. He then issued a walk to put runners on the corners with two outs before serving up a three-run homer to Eugenio Suárez to blow the lead and fall in line for a loss. It hasn’t been the best stretch for the 31-year-old left-hander, giving up nine runs over his last seven outings, raising his ERA to 3.93 across 34 1/3 innings.

It wasn’t a save, since the Pirates scored twice in the bottom of the eighth, but it was a positive outing for Soto, who had allowed seven runs — six earned — over four innings in his previous five appearances. He retired JP Crawford, Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez without incident today.

Soto retired just one of the first four batters he faced to make things interesting, but he then got Willi Castro to ground into a game-ending double play. Dennis Santana gave up a three-run homer in the eighth today, so he certainly didn’t gain any ground on Soto today. Still, Soto has surrendered five earned runs this month to take his ERA from 1.95 to 3.34.

Soto took the mound in the ninth inning to preserve a one-run lead against the Athletics. He worked around two hits, striking out two batters to secure the win for the Pirates with his 11th save to go with a 3.16 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a 37/12 K/BB ratio across 31 1/3 innings.

Soto was called on in the ninth inning to close out the game against the Marlins with a one-run lead. He allowed a leadoff single before retiring the next three batters to finish out the game with his 10th save. The 31-year-old left-hander has emerged as one of the better closers with a 3.26 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and a 35/12 K/BB ratio across 30 1/3 innings.

Soto surrendered a two-run blast to Shohei Ohtani that cut the lead to one, but he made it through the inning otherwise unscathed. The veteran lefty has fully taken over the closer role in Pittsburgh, securing each of their past eight saves that weren’t of the three-inning variety. Dennis Santana hasn’t recorded a save since April 15. The Pirates might look to upgrade their bullpen at the trade deadline, but Soto’s role should be safe for now.

Soto entered with the Pirates up 9-6, two on and two out in the eighth and never made it out of the inning. Yordan Alvarez singled to make it 9-7. Christian Walker then hit a slow roller to the right side with Brandon Lowe pulled toward second and Lowe failed to make the play for a cheap infield single. After that came a bases-loaded walk and a Cam Smith triple. Soto was having a fantastic season, but outings like this were always on the way. He’s still the clear favorite for saves in Pittsburgh right now, but that might change at some point. There’s the chance that Carmen Mlodzinski could enter the mix after getting sent to the pen.

The Pirates started the bottom of the ninth with a six-run lead and Dennis Santana on the mound. Santana allowed two runs in on three hits and a walk before Soto took over with one out. He extinguished the threat quickly, striking out the final two batters for his eighth save of the season.

Soto entered in the top of the eighth up by one run with two runners on and two outs and induced a groundout to end the threat. He returned for the ninth and worked around a walk to close out the game with his seventh save of the season. The 31-year-old left-hander has taken hold of the closer role in Pittsburgh behind a 1.95 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, and a 32/11 K/BB ratio across 27 2/3 innings.

Soto is sporting a 32 percent strikeout rate, and even though his groundball rate is at an all-time low, he’s allowed only one homer in 25 1/3 innings to date. Soto also earned a save on Sunday, so he’ll probably be unavailable on Tuesday. Mason Montgomery or Dennis Santana might close then.

After getting Ernie Clement to start the inning, Soto plunked Andres Gimenez and walked Brandon Valenzuela to put the tying runs on base. He then battled back to get George Springer on a pop out to the shortstop and Daulton Varsho on strikes to end it. Soto now sports a 2.22 ERA and 0.80 WHIP on the season to go along with his five saves in seven opportunities.

Konnor Griffin’s fielding error started the ninth inning inauspiciously. Soto was able to get Justin Crawford, but walked Adolis García and allowed a ground-ball single to Trea Turner to load the bases. Soto then walked in a run against Kyle Schwarber and allowed a two-RBI ‘single’ to Bryce Harper that was reviewed for a home run and went 388 feet off the top of the wall. There were silver linings here for Soto. One of them is that he was able to exit the inning when Schwarber was thrown out at third on a cutoff play, and he induced an Alec Bohm flyout. Another is that Dennis Santana was absolutely roasted to take the loss in the tenth inning, not even retiring a single batter. Soto should still have plenty of rope as Pittsburgh’s closer.

Soto allowed an RBI double to Hunter Goodman before getting TJ Rumfield to ground out to end the game. It was his fourth save of the year. Soto is having an excellent season with a 1.69 ERA and 0.70 WHIP. Dennis Santana’s last save was on April 15, making Soto the preferred Pirates reliever to roster for now.

Dennis Santana got the first two outs in the eighth, but he allowed a couple of hits in the process, which led to the Pirates replacing him with Soto against lefty Drew Gilbert. Quite simply, Soto is the reliever the Pirates have the most faith in at the moment.