Ryan O’Hearn etched his name in the history books on Tuesday night with three home runs and 10 RBIs in the host Pittsburgh Pirates’ 12-4 win over the Atlanta Braves.
O’Hearn, who had his first career three-homer game, became the first Pirate to drive in 10 runs in a game and the first in the majors to do so since the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani did it on September 19, 2024.
O’Hearn’s career-high for RBIs led the Pirates to their third consecutive win and fourth in their past five games. It also came on a four-hit night as he hit a grand slam off Braves starter Hurston Waldrep (0-1) in the bottom of the first and later hit a three-run home run off Waldrep in the third and another three-run home run off reliever Connor Thomas in the sixth.
O’Hearn’s third home run was the 100th of his career and 16th of the season. He finished his night at the plate with a single off Braves shortstop Jorge Mateo, who was brought into pitch in the bottom of the eighth to minimize Atlanta’s bullpen usage.
Waldrep gave up seven runs on six hits and five walks while striking out two over 3 1/3 innings for Atlanta, which lost its third in a row.
O’Hearn’s historic night helped Pirates ace Paul Skenes (7-8) and his team snap a nine-game losing streak when he pitches. Skenes picked up his first win since May 12th and avoided tying Jim Perry and Blake Snell for the longest losing streak by a reigning Cy Young winner’s team.
Skenes pitched six innings and gave up two runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out four.
Mauricio Dubon gave the Braves a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single off Skenes that scored Matt Olson, who doubled two batters earlier.
Ozzie Albies drove in a second run with a single in the third. Mike Yastrzemski also had two RBI. Dubon, Michael Harris II and Austin Riley each had two hits.
Brandon Lowe had three hits and an RBI for Pittsburgh while Nick Gonzales had two hits and an RBI.
