You can probably tell from the score that the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 14-2 victory over the New York Mets was a massacre. You can probably also tell from the amount of fireworks still going off at PNC Park after the game.
That number would be zero, because the Pirates used them all to celebrate hitting seven home runs.
The Pirates announced the shortage during the bottom of the eighth inning, once they had scored 14 unanswered runs after the Mets took an early 2-0 lead:
The homers came courtesy of Rowdy Tellez (twice), Jack Suwinski, Bryan Reynolds (twice), Yasmani Grandal and Michael A. Taylor. Tellez and Reynolds’ second homers were grand slams.
Three of the homers came off Mets starter Luis Severino and three more came off reliever Ty Adcock, who had to use it with New York already down 8-2 when he entered the game in the eighth inning. Adcock entered Friday’s game with a 3.38 ERA that left him with a 14.54 FIP. His FIP, which uses home runs allowed as a major part of its formula, is similarly broken at 15.16.
Simply put, it was a fun time for Pirates fans, who also got to see another stellar start from rookie sensation Paul Skenes. The flamethrower lasted seven innings with four hits allowed, two earned runs, two walks and eight strikeouts.
The win improves the Pirates’ record to 42-45, putting them four games out of the final wild-card spot in the National League.