On a night marked by the symphony of the bat-meeting ball, the Pirates equaled their franchise record of seven homers and smashed the Mariners 11-6 in what was undoubtedly a classic performance at T-Mobile Park.
“It was a great day with everyone performing and playing the way they did,” said Suwinski, fresh off his third multi-homer game of his career. “This is a small sample of what we saw earlier in the year. It just shows that we’re a good baseball team. We can play at a really good level if we all play together and play for each other.”
Friday’s fireworks, an offensive display coinciding with the literal fireworks from T-Mobile Park after the game, marked the third time since 1901 that the Pirates hit seven home runs in a single game, the other occasions being on Aug. 20 2003 and 1947-16, both against the Cardinals. According to team historian Jim Trdinich, on June 6, 1894, the Pirates also had seven home runs against Boston.
McCutchen started the show by setting the tone with a massive home run over the left field fence to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. With two hits on Friday, the other being a single, McCutchen is now 10 hits from 2,000 in his career.
Santana, whose leadership played an invaluable role in helping the Mariners overcome their two-decade playoff drought last season, blasted a solo shot over the right field fence, his first home run since April 7.
Suwinski and Hayes battled each other in the fifth inning, leading a five-run frame that helped open the game. As George Kirby left the mound and followed Hayes’ home run, a chorus of “Let’s Go Bucs!” chanted from behind the third base shelter temporarily transformed T-Mobile Park into PNC Park West.
Suwinski was part of another multi-homer frame when he and Marcano left the building with a bomb ballad in the seventh inning. In the eighth run, Reynolds capped the homer’s harmony with the most aesthetically stunning homer of the night, a 403-foot moonshot that ricocheted off the windows of the Hit It Here cafe.
“At that point, some of us just laughed with each other just because the game plan we had wasn’t about beating the whole game like we did,” Suwinski said.
Mitch Keller added: “[We were] I just looked around and said, ‘Who’s next?’ Who’s next?’ It is fun. It makes a lot of fun. Especially in a row. Special evening for the offensive. I couldn’t be happier for all these guys.”
Four of the Pirates’ seven home runs came against Kirby, a particularly impressive feat considering Kirby’s skill at controlling the long ball. When Kirby came into the game, he had only allowed three home runs all season; The only pitchers this year to have allowed three or fewer homers are Hunter Brown (3), Nathan Eovaldi (3), Zac Gallen (2), Justin Steele (2) and Sonny Gray (0). Additionally, Kirby ranked fifth among the starting pitchers with a 0.46 HR/9.
“He’s a really good pitcher,” Reynolds said. “I’m proud of the way we’ve taken a good approach and stuck to it. We were prepared. [Four] Hitting homers against anyone is impressive, but the fact that we were able to do that against a pitcher like him is really good.”
Pittsburgh’s offensive drive was needed on a night when Keller wasn’t at his best for the first time in several weeks. Keller allowed six earned runs in more than six innings, his season high, with his ERA increasing from 2.44 to 3.01 by the end of the night. The right-hander, who hit two, gave up two home runs and hit eight, said he wasn’t sharp, adding that he plans to call it quits on that outing and move on.
There have been several occasions this season where Keller has appeared to win the Pirates, whether through his full game or through his 13 strikeout performance. He was on offense that night, and in a great way.