Pirates: Left-hander Bailey Falter carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Pirates beat the Marlins 3-1 on Wednesday afternoon in Pittsburgh for a sweep of the season series. Falter (8-7) allowed three walks before Jonah Bride dropped a single into left field with one out in the seventh. The 27-year-old Falter gave up a leadoff single to Cristian Pache in the eighth before being pulled on 93 pitches (57 strikes) after getting the first out with Kyle Stowers flying to center. Four of Falter’s five strikeouts came in the first five batters, striking out the side in the first inning on 10 pitches. David Bednar pitched the ninth but could not pick up his first save since Aug. 23. Otto Lopez led off with a double before Jake Burger reached on an error by shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Bednar struck out Bride and Jesús Sánchez before Pache hit an RBI single up the middle. Jalen Beeks came in for Bednar, allowing an infield single to Stowers that loaded the bases and getting Xavier Edwards to fly out to right for his 10th save. Jonathan Bermúdez (0-1) got through two innings for the Marlins, allowing three runs and three hits with one walk in his first major-league start. The Marlins lost each of their seven games against the Pirates this season. They were swept to open the season in Miami, losing four games by a combined score of 31-17 before dropping the past three in Pittsburgh. The Pirates scored twice in the first inning. Bryan Reynolds hit a one-out double into right field, later scoring when Oneil Cruz walked with the bases loaded; Joey Bart went home on a sacrifice fly from Connor Joe. Jared Triolo extended the lead to 3-0 the next inning with his eighth homer of the season. ... Pirates GM Ben Cherington expects manager Derek Shelton to return next season. Cherington said Shelton remains “the right person to manage this team in 2025” despite an August swoon that dropped the Pirates out of postseason contention. “I think there’s a lot to the job I believe he does really, really well and I also believe he works his tail off to continue to improve in a number of ways,” Cherington said. Shelton is 287-404 (.415) in nearly five full seasons. The Pirates hoped to take another step forward in 2024 behind rookie pitcher Paul Skenes. While they were above .500 and in the middle of the wild-card race at the July 30 trade deadline, the Pirates slumped down the stretch and is on pace to finish with around 76 wins, right where the franchise was a year ago. “I do believe that there’s good evidence that we’re in a better position and improved, and again, it’s not enough,” Cherington said. “We have to figure out a way to get more of that and push our win totals higher. I’m responsible for that and focused on it every day.” Cherington hired Shelton in November 2019 to handle the major league roster as Cherington began a top-down overhaul of the organization. The steps back toward relevance have been difficult. The Pirates finished last in the NL Central in each of Shelton’s first three seasons as Cherington traded away veterans like Joe Musgrove and Josh Bell while restocking the minor-league system. The team upped its record to 76-86 a year ago and 2023 top overall pick Skenes’ arrival in the majors in mid-May gave the franchise the kind of buzz it has lacked since reaching the playoffs three straight years a decade ago. The Pirates are near the bottom of the National League in every major offensive category, including runs (11th), HRs (13th) and on-base plus slugging percentage.