Pirates slam 5 home runs in 12-2 victory against 1st-place Brewers

With leadoff hitter Andrew McCutchen taking the night off and shortstop Oneil Cruz on the bench while nursing hamstring tightness, the Pittsburgh Pirates hit the road Tuesday night and challenged 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. Plus, the Brewers came into the game with a 27-13 record at home.

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

“It’s a club that’s 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 lat muscle) just hours before the game, Priester relieved opener Josh Fleming, who worked only a scoreless first inning, threw 24 pitches and walked 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.

“It seemed like he caught a wind of confidence and he took off and he was competing,” Bart said. “Every time out here, he gets better. He picked us up, big-time.”

Brewers starter Colin Rea entered the game with an 8-3 record and 3.34 ERA, but the Pirates scored six times to break a 2-2 tie in the sixth. Singles by Bryan Reynolds, former Brewers player Rowdy Tellez, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Jack Suwinski — sandwiched around an error by third baseman Vinny 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 matching the Brewers for the MLB lead.

“If we’re going to lead in a stat, I like that one because that’s four points,” Shelton said.

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

Bart, whose two career grand slams have occurred this season with the Pirates, has found new life with Pittsburgh after he was the second overall choice in the 2018 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants.

“As everyone knows, Joey was a highly touted prospect. Sometimes, it takes a little while,” Shelton said. “We’ve seen him continue to have good at-bats. 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 outburst with three home runs in the seventh and eighth for a total of five.

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

“It’s an honor to play long enough to hit 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 against us here, but good night for him,” he said. “We had good swings throughout the night. Really proud of the group.”

An inning later, Suwinski followed with his ninth homer of the season, giving the Pirates a double-digit run total for the second time in the past five games. Suwinski has homered twice in his past five games.

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

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

“He was having good at-bats in Indy and he’s continued to carry it through,” his manager said.

The Pirates have hit 15 home runs in the past five games, only the sixth time since 1901 they recorded at least that number in that span.

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

The Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third when Reynolds homered — his 17th of the season — with Michael A. Taylor on base after a walk. The ball left Reynolds’ bat at 104.6 mph and landed 408 feet from home plate.

It was Reynolds’ 115th career homer, the most all-time by a Pirates switch hitter, surpassing the mark previously held by Bobby Bonilla.

“It’s pretty cool when you do something historical like that,” Reynolds said.