Pirates hit 5 home runs in 12-2 win against first-place Brewers

With leadoff hitter Andrew McCutchen taking the night off and shortstop Vanil Cruz on the bench with hamstring tightness, the Pittsburgh Pirates went on the road Tuesday night to challenge the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field.

The odds were against the Pirates, who are trying to piece together a starting rotation with Jared Jones and Bailey Falter on the injured list. Additionally, the Brewers came into the game with a 27–13 record at home.

Unsurprisingly, the Pirates (44–47) responded in a big way with a 12–2 win and their first two-game winning streak since June 25–26. The win against the Brewers (53-39) was made possible by a six-run sixth inning, a grand slam from catcher Joey Bart, four other home runs and an excellent relief effort from Quinn Priester, whose most recent outing was at Triple-A Indianapolis. On a rehabilitation assignment.

“This is a club that is leading our division. It’s a good start to the road trip, good start to the series,” manager Derek Shelton said on the Sportsnet Pittsburgh postgame show.

Activated from the injured list (right hamstring) just hours before the game, Priester relieved opener Josh Fleming, who had only worked a scoreless first inning, throwing 24 pitches and walking three batters.

Priester struck out a career-high eight batters in six innings, the most by a Pirates relief pitcher since 1961. He allowed two runs (one earned), four hits and two walks in his first outing for the Pirates since June 2.

“He seemed to get a surge of confidence and he ran and competed,” Bart said. “Every time he comes out here, he gets better. He picked us up, big time.”

Brewers starter Colin Rea entered the game with an 8–3 record and a 3.34 ERA, but the Pirates broke a 2–2 tie in the sixth by scoring six times. Singles by Brian Reynolds, former Brewers player Rowdy Tellez, K’Bryan Hayes and Jack Suwinski – caused by an error by third baseman Vinnie Capra on Nick Gonzales’ 1o3.2 mph groundball – led to Bart’s grand slam.

It was the Pirates’ seventh slam of the season, tying a club record and tying the Brewers for the MLB lead.

“If we’re going to lead by a figure, I like it because it’s four points,” Shelton said.

“When we needed it, I got one on top of the other and made it count,” Bart said. “It was a big night for the boys, swinging the bats, pitching the ball and playing good defense.”

Bart, who has two career grand slams this season with the Pirates, has found new life with Pittsburgh after being made the second overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants.

“As everyone knows, Joey was a highly touted prospect. Sometimes, it takes a while,” Shelton said. “We have seen that he has been batting well consistently. “He has the ability to drive the ball out of the ballpark.”

The slam gave the Pirates an 8–2 lead, and they followed that blast with three home runs in the seventh and eighth for a total of five.

In the seventh, Tellez’s sixth home run in his last 12 games – No. 100 for his career, the eighth this season and the first against a left-handed pitcher – landed 410 feet from home plate and cut the lead to 9–2. Took.

“It’s an honor to play long enough to get to 100,” Tellez said.

For a change, Shelton liked being on the winning side of one of those homers.

“We’ve seen him hit some home runs here against us, but good night to him,” he said. “We saw good swings all night. Really proud of the group.”

An inning later, Suwinski followed with his ninth homer of the season, giving the Pirates a double-digit total for the second time in the last five games. Suwinski has scored twice at home in his last five matches.

“When he gets on time, we see his ability to impact the ball and get the ball out of the ballpark,” Shelton said.

Before the Brewers could get the third out in the eighth, Josh Palacios homered for the second consecutive day, bringing the Pirates’ total to 38 in the last five games. Like Priester, he was demonstrating in Indianapolis last week.

His manager said, “He had good batting in Indy and has continued that.”

The Pirates have hit 15 home runs over the past five games, just the sixth time since 1901 they have hit at least that many over that span.

“It’s about getting after it every day, coming up with a plan and showing up ready to work,” Bart said.

The Pirates took a 2–0 lead in the third when Reynolds singled on base after a walk by Michael A. Taylor scored the home goal – his 17th of the season. The ball came off Reynolds’ bat at a speed of 104.6 mph and landed 408 feet away from home plate.

It was Reynolds’ 115th career homer, the most ever by a Pirates switch hitter, surpassing Bobby Bonilla’s record previously held.

“It’s great when you do something historic like this,” Reynolds said.