Pirates Slugger Notches Impressive Feat Team Hasn’t Seen In 4 Years originally appeared on SportsNet Pittsburgh.
Add SportsNet Pittsburgh as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
In a rubber match against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Pirates earned a resounding 6-2 victory, improving to a 26-24 record.
The Pirates got on the board early in their victory, scoring in the first inning in an extremely surprising way. In his first plate appearance of the game, All-Star slugger Brandon Lowe opened the scoring with an inside-the-park home run.
The 31-year-old slugger’s inside-the-park home run is the first one that Pittsburgh has scored in exactly four years, and oddly enough, it was also the first St. Louis has surrendered in four years to the day.
“Whether the ball managed to sneak over the wall or not, nothing was coming between Brandon Lowe and touching home plate,” MLB.com’s Jeff Jones wrote on Thursday. “A tailing fly ball into the left-field corner against Cardinals starter Dustin May caught the right gust of wind to stay just barely fair, and José Fermín’s leaping attempt did little more than harmlessly deflect the ball back toward the left-center gap. That left Lowe to race around for his 13th homer on the season — and the first of his career that didn’t go over the wall.
“Bizarrely enough, the last inside-the-park round tripper both hit by the Pirates and surrendered by the Cardinals came four years ago to the day. It was hit by today’s Pittsburgh left fielder, Bryan Reynolds, at PNC Park against Matthew Liberatore. Thursday’s scampering blast was the sixth in the Majors this season not to clear the fence, and the third inside-the-park homer in Busch Stadium history.”
Lowe is off to a hot start in his tenure with the Pirates, slashing .256/.348/.558 with 13 home runs and 32 runs batted in. The star second baseman will look to continue his impressive season as Pittsburgh takes on the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend.
More MLB: Former MLB General Manager Claims Struggling Pirates Veteran Is ‘Done’
