ATLANTA — It genuinely felt like this time might be different for the Pirates.
Their offense scored more than three runs in a game for the first time in eight days, helped by two first-inning home runs. Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds delivered two-out doubles in the fifth to give Pittsburgh the lead, and Duane Underwood Jr. buzzed through the Braves with a 1-2-3 sixth.
Then, the wheels came off. After a first inning that featured four combined homers — more than taking care of the “blast” portion of the famous saying — a bloop hit turned out to be the pivotal moment in a 10-4 Pirates loss. Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson dumped a single into right off Chris Stratton, and the Pirates again left Truist Park frustrated.
That’s three straight in this series, season-high five consecutive losses overall.
After Swanson’s bloop single, Stratton intentionally walked first baseman Matt Olson, and second baseman Ozzie Albies blew the game wide open with a grand slam, crushing a 1-2 fastball from Stratton on the outer half over the fence in right-center.
Stratton faced five batters, failed to record an out and gave up five earned runs, his ERA soaring to 5.63 in what has been a down season for someone the Pirates need to get late-inning outs.
Manager Derek Shelton also got burned with a couple decisions. Pulling Thompson after just 67 pitches, one. But also continuing to use Underwood Jr. — who doesn’t pitch a ton in the final three innings while the Pirates have a lead — into the seventh inning instead of turning to, say, Wil Crowe, who hadn’t thrown since Wednesday.
In the end, none of it mattered because Swanson got his bat on a slider from Stratton and poked one 194 feet to an open area, allowing right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. to score all the way from first base.
The first inning of this one looked more like slow-pitch softball or a home run derby than an MLB game, with four of the first eight hitters driving balls over the fence.
Reynolds (three hits) got the party started with his team-high ninth of the season, sending a four-seam fastball from Charlie Morton into Atlanta’s bullpen. Two batters later, Daniel Vogelbach got his first home run since May 14 when he pounced on a first-pitch fastball middle-away from Morton, sending it 433 feet to the center-field service tunnel.
The lead didn’t last long, as Acuna Jr. and Braves third baseman Austin Riley answered in the bottom half. Acuna Jr. got a cutter low and away and somehow blasted it 434 feet to left-center for his 25th career leadoff homer and second this season. Again two batters later, Riley mirrored Vogelbach, ambushing a first-pitch cutter from Thompson and crushing it 432 feet to left-center.
The home runs weren’t cheapies either; they averaged 425 feet and 108 mph.
The next batch of runs came in the fifth, when Reynolds and Hayes stroked back-to-back, two-out doubles, each knocking in a run.
The fifth started when Morton plunked Tyler Heineman with an 0-2 count, his MLB-high eighth hit-by-pitch this season. Heineman stole second and scored when Reynolds went the other way with a Morton heater. Hayes roped a two-strike curveball from Morton to center, then made it into second by hustling the entire way.
Thompson settled down nicely after the two homers and allowed just one more hit the rest of the way, giving the Pirates five innings while walking one and striking out four.
Shelton removed Thompson with the Braves hitting for a third time, a decision that tracks with how the Pirates have handled pitchers this season. The start also continued Thompson’s recent progress, as he’s now posted a 2.33 ERA with 26 strikeouts, eight walks and a .202 average against over his last seven starts.
Thompson’s mound opponent and former Pirate, Morton, racked up a season-high 12 strikeouts, as the Pirates swung and missed 23 times, which is the second-highest such total of his career. Morton has struck out at least 12 five times. His career-high is 14 strikeouts.
