​Pittsburgh, PA (AP) — Ryan O’Hearn delivered a historic performance, blasting three home runs and driving in a franchise-record 10 runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates overwhelmed the Atlanta Braves 12-4 on Tuesday night. The first baseman, notable as a rare free agent who signed a multiyear pact with the Pirates, made it easy for ace Paul Skenes to earn his first victory since early June, helping Pittsburgh secure its third consecutive win.
O’Hearn opened the night with a bang, hitting his third career grand slam off Hurston Waldrep in the first inning. He didn’t stop there, launching another three-run homer off Waldrep in the third and then adding a third long ball in the sixth, this time against reliever Connor Thomas. With those blasts, O’Hearn surpassed Johnny Rizzo’s 87-year-old Pirates single-game RBI record and joined an exclusive club of players who have produced three homers and at least 10 RBIs in a game. By the end, he had 10 RBIs and three homers, joining the ranks of MLB players who have achieved at least four homers in a game as a separate, almost mythical, milestone. The only recent player to reach the four-homer fantasy also tallied four in a game was Shohei Ohtani in 2024, who accomplished the feat against the Miami Marlins.
Despite the offensive outburst, O’Hearn’s bid to hit four homers was narrowly thwarted when he lined a single off Jorge Mateo, the Braves’ utility infielder making his third relief appearance of the season, in the ninth inning. He finished the night as the 11th player since RBI data began to be officially tracked in 1920 to collect three homers and 10 RBIs in a single game.
The unprecedented performance came as the Pirates rode the momentum into a day shadowed by injuries to key players. Earlier Tuesday, Pittsburgh learned that star rookie Konnor Griffin would miss at least two months with a left-hand injury, a blow that made O’Hearn’s outburst even more timely for a club seeking to stabilize a turbulent stretch.
Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young winner who saw his All-Star status briefly discussed in the days leading up to the game, pitched six innings of solid baseball, allowing two runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out four, lowering his ERA to 3.58. Although he was briefly displaced on the NL All-Star team by teammate Braxton Ashcraft, Skenes delivered a workmanlike performance that gave Pittsburgh a stable platform to ride offensively.
On the other side, Braves starter Waldrep struggled to find the strike zone, surrendering seven runs to O’Hearn’s bat in 3 1/3 innings. The right-hander walked five and faced a rough night that quickly spiraled into a one-sided contest. Waldrep’s second start of the season yielded trouble from the outset, contributing to Atlanta’s inability to keep pace with the Pirates’ early and relentless scoring.
Offensively, Michael Harris II and Mauricio Dubon contributed two hits apiece for Atlanta, who entered the game atop the NL East but have now dropped three straight as they attempt to regain their footing.
The game set the stage for a pivotal series that continues on Wednesday, with Grant Holmes taking the mound for Atlanta against Pittsburgh’s Jared Jones. Holmes carries a 5-4 record and a 3.83 ERA, while Jones enters with a 1-1 mark and a 5.28 ERA. The outcome of Wednesday’s tilt will factor into both teams’ outlooks as they navigate the remainder of their schedule and the ongoing race in the division.
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