Joey Bart's grand slam helps Pirates to blowout win over Brewers

Noah Hiles / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

MILWAUKEE — Joey Bart had some extra time to think about the situation at hand. After watching his team go ahead by a pair of runs, the Brewers called upon reliever Bryse Wilson to replace starter Colin Rea and face the Pirates’ catcher with no outs and the bases loaded.

Bart stepped in the box with an opportunity to make a splash, to truly turn the game on its head. And on a 2-2 pitch, he did.

The veteran backstop connected on a curveball left over the center of the plate, sending it 392 feet to left center field for a grand slam, his second of the season. The bases-loaded blast served as the game’s turning point, setting up a 12-2 victory for the Pirates on Tuesday evening at American Family Field.

"We continued to have good swings and continued to add on throughout the game,” manager Derek Shelton said after the win. “I'm proud of the group. Just really consistent at-bats."

Bart’s home run was preceded by his teammates tallying five straight singles. Bryan Reynolds and Rowdy Tellez started the party, which was followed by Nick Gonzales reaching on a play that was originally ruled to be an error on third baseman Vinny Capara, but later changed to a hit. Two more singles from Ke’Bryan Hayes and Jack Suwinski, the latter driving home Tellez, set the stage for Bart’s big swing.

The grand slam was the seventh of the season by the Pirates, already matching the most ever in a single season in club history, joining the 1996 and 1978 seasons. Pittsburgh’s seven grand slams this season matches the Brewers for the most in Major League Baseball.

"I wish I had a better answer for that,” Shelton said when asked about his team’s success with the bases loaded. “But if we're going to lead in a stat I like that one, because that's four runs."

ON THE MOUND

As the Pirates’ bats hammered away, Quinn Priester upheld his end of the bargain. After being activated off the 15-day injured list prior to the start of Tuesday’s game, Priester entered after Josh Fleming threw a scoreless bottom of the first.

Similar to his team’s offensive output, Priester needed a bit of time to find a groove. The 23-year-old righty followed a scoreless first frame by allowing a pair of runs to score in the bottom of the third, the first being unearned.

However, with the score tied and more potential runs on base, he locked in and remained on point. Priester kept the Brewers bats quiet for the remainder of his outing, finishing his work day with six strong innings to his credit. The righty struck out a career-best eight batters while allowing just four hits and a pair of walks en route to his first win of the season.

"He executed pitches,” Shelton said. “He put the ball on the ground when he needed to. He got strikeouts, I think he had eight, which is his career high. Outstanding. He did a really good job. I'm proud of how he came back and executed."

“It was great to be a part of the win and help the guys out,” Priester added. “The offense was plentiful so it was easy to go out there and fill it up.”

AT THE PLATE

While Bart’s homer was the most impactful, he was far from the only Pirate to go deep Tuesday evening. Reynolds got the club on the board in the top of the third with a two-run homer to left-center. The homer marked No. 115 in Reynolds’ career, putting him ahead of Bobby Bonilla for the most home runs for a switch hitter in franchise history.

"It's special,” Shelton said. “Bryan is going to break many more records here. He's just going to continue."

Tellez added on to the fun in the top of the seventh with a solo shot to right field. The homer marked Tellez’ seventh of the season and sixth since June 8. It was also the 100th home run of his big league career.

"It's just special,” Tellez said. “Kind of surreal, doing something where I hit the most [home runs]. It's just an honor to play long enough to hit 100. This is a hard game. A lot of people strive to do that. … It's pretty special."

Suwinski piled on the next frame, hitting a solo bomb to right field, his third of the month. Joshua Palacios added one more longball for good measure later that inning, sending a 2-2 pitch deep into the right field seats for his second home run in as many days.

"I just think that the fact that we continued to add on, that was important,” Shelton said. “That's a good club. It's a club that's leading our division. It's a good start to the road trip, a good start to the series."

THEY SAID IT

"We've got a lot of talented guys,” Reynolds said of the Pirates’ offense. “We've shown up in spurts here and there. We've just got to try to be a little more consistent and build off today."

UP NEXT

Wednesday: Pirates at Brewers, 8:10 p.m., American Family Field.

TV, radio: SportsNet Pittsburgh, KDKA-FM (93.7)

Probable pitchers: LHP Martín Pérez (1-4, 4.72) for Pirates; RHP Tobias Myers (5-3, 3.52) for Brewers.

Key matchup: Perez has received one run of support or fewer when he has been in the game in eight of his last nine starts.

Hidden stat: Reynolds’ home run in the third inning made it 12 straight games the Pirates tallied a long ball in Milwaukee.

Thursday: Pirates at Brewers, 2:10 p.m., American Family Field.

Probable pitchers: RHP Paul Skenes (4-0, 2.12) for Pirates; RHP Aaron Civale (2-6, 5.18) for Brewers.

Noah Hiles: [email protected] and @_NoahHiles on X