PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ryan O’Hearn hit three home runs and finished with a as the Pittsburgh Pirates drilled the Atlanta Braves 12-4 on Tuesday night.
The first baseman, the rare free agent to sign a multiyear deal with the Pirates, made it easy for ace Paul Skenes (7-8) to pick up his first win in nearly two months as Pittsburgh won its third straight.
The left-handed slugger hit his third career grand slam off Atlanta’s Hurston Waldrep (0-1) in the first, took Waldrep deep again for a three-run shot in the third and broke Johnny Rizzo’s 87-year-old franchise record for RBIs in a game by adding another three-run blast against reliever Connor Thomas in the sixth.
O’Hearn’s bid to become the 22nd player in major league history to hit four homers in a game ended when he singled off Atlanta infielder Jorge Mateo — making his third career appearance in relief — in the ninth. O’Hearn instead settled for being the 11th player since the RBI became an official statistic in 1920 to hit three homers and drive in 10 runs in a game. Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was the last player to do it in 2024 against Miami.
O’Hearn’s historic night gave the Pirates a welcome boost on the same day the club lost star rookie Konnor Griffin for at least two months with a left-hand injury.
Skenes, the reigning NL Cy Young winner who was replaced on the National League All-Star team on Tuesday by teammate Braxton Ashcraft, allowed two runs on eight hits over a workmanlike six innings with a walk and four strikeouts as his ERA ticked down to 3.58.
Michael Harris and Mauricio Dubon had two hits for the NL East-leading Braves, who have dropped three consecutive games.
Waldrep, making his second start of the season, struggled in 3 1/3 innings. The right-hander allowed seven runs — all driven in by O’Hearn — and walked five.
Up next
The series continues on Wednesday. Grant Holmes (5-4, 3.83 ERA) starts for Atlanta against Pittsburgh’s Jared Jones (1-1, 5.28)
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