Pirates Erupt for 12 Fourth-Inning Runs, Rout Brewers 14-5

Pittsburgh sent 14 batters to the plate in the fourth inning alone, turning a tight 2-2 game into a 14-2 laugher before Milwaukee could blink. Henry Davis and Marcell Ozuna each went deep, combining for 2 home runs, 5 RBI, and 5 runs scored in a performance that looks like the kind of afternoon that defines a team's offensive ceiling.

The game appeared to be anyone's contest through three innings. Pittsburgh struck first in the second — O'Hearn doubled to right to score Valdez, Ozuna singled to center to score O'Hearn, and then Davis unloaded a 364-foot home run to left that scored Ozuna and pushed the lead to 4-0. That blast was the decisive moment of the night: win probability swung from 82% to 92% the instant Davis's ball cleared the fence. Milwaukee clawed back in the fourth, with Chourio doubling home Yelich and Sánchez grounding into a fielder's choice to score Chourio, pulling within 4-2. It looked, briefly, like a game.

Then Pittsburgh's fourth inning happened, and it was over. Ozuna led off with a solo shot to left — 338 feet — to make it 5-2, and the floodgates opened from there. Davis singled home Triolo. Reynolds was hit by a pitch to score Davis. Valdez walked to score Mangum. O'Hearn singled to center to score Lowe. Gonzales doubled to right, scoring both Reynolds and Valdez. Triolo singled to left, scoring both O'Hearn and Gonzales. Mangum tripled to center to score Davis. Twelve runs. One inning. Pittsburgh went from a two-run lead to a 14-2 advantage before Milwaukee's bullpen could stop the bleeding. Triolo finished 3-for-5 with 2 RBI, O'Hearn went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI and 2 runs, and Gonzales added 2 RBI on his double — the story of the night was a lineup that refused to let up.

Paul Skenes did his part on the mound, going 5.1 innings and allowing just 2 earned runs on 3 hits while striking out 7. Milwaukee's Bryse Wilson actually held Pittsburgh scoreless through his 3.0 innings of work — the damage came entirely against the Brewers' relief corps. Turang hit a 387-foot two-run homer to right in the eighth to make it 14-4, and Mitchell doubled home Bauers to account for the final 14-5 margin, but by then the result had long been settled. Pittsburgh's offense looks like a genuine problem for opposing pitching staffs right now — six different players drove in runs, and the lineup cycled through damage from top to bottom in that catastrophic fourth.