In front of a sellout crowd for just the second time this season, the Pittsburgh Pirates put together their greatest showing in years in front of their home fans, putting up a 14-2 win over the visiting New York Mets.

And that offense came from everybody, including players that have been much maligned by fans and the media in recent weeks. Yasmani Grandal had two hits and a homer. Michael A. Taylor went 4-for-4 with a homer. Jack Suwinski tacked on another homer.

It was a very rare game – maybe even the first time ever – that Paul Skenes was a secondary story.

History was made on multiple facets, including:

• Tying the franchise’s home run record at seven. That feat has only been accomplished four other times in team history, only one of them at home. Check out more on that right here on Fifth Avenue.
• Having two grand slams happen in the same game. That has only happened four other times in team history.
• The first time in 50+ years that two players had 5+ RBI in a game. Check out more on that also right here on Fifth Avenue.
• Bryan Reynolds and Rowdy Tellez becoming the first pair of teammates in MLB history to hit multiple home runs including a grand slam in the same game.
• The Pirates becoming the first team in MLB history to score 14+ unanswered runs, with all of them coming off of home runs.

Maybe too much history happened in tonight’s affair, one that saw the Mets eventually resort to using their backup catcher to help pitch their way out of the bottom of the eighth inning.

Tonight was truly an electric night at the ballpark. Whether you were lucky enough to be at the stadium, or sitting at home watching the broadcast, one thing needs to be clear: Pittsburgh is a baseball town.

Don't EVER tell me that Pittsburgh is not a baseball town. Listen to that crowd. Look at how packed that ballpark is. Give these fans something, literally anything and they will be there.

— Alex (@AlexOnFifthAve) July 6, 2024

It’s no secret that the Pirates don’t often have their stadium packed to the brim with fans. Despite having the best ballpark in America, PNC Park is rarely anywhere near capacity on any given night.

In fact, last night was only the second sellout of the season. They rank 14th out of 15 teams in the National League, a spot that they have routinely occupied over the last several seasons.

The empty seats are ridiculed by others, and teams with high traveling fanbases can overrun PNC Park.

Those aren’t some great optics. But fans, even die-hard ones, can only put up with so much losing.

The Pirates have only had one winning season since 2016, and haven’t crossed the .500 threshold in five years. This is a franchise that has routinely lost again and again and again, and has been embarrassed by nearly every other team in the league in recent time.

We talk so much about the 2013-2015 run the Pirates had, and that time frame is two fold: those three brief years of playoff runs had broken a 20-year losing streak for the Pirates, who had become the ultimate sorry excuse of a franchise.

It brought this city together in a way only sports can; established fans had become proud to wear their Pirates gear again, and new fans who were kids when that run took place were forever hooked on this team.

The latter of those two is my story with the Pirates, and I remember as a young kid watching that crowd go crazy and wishing I was there.

We talk about those crowds and how purely electric they were, how it was an explosion of joy after 20 straight years of suffering. While perhaps the almost Joker origin story style pain isn’t quite as lengthy, I think some of the crowds we have had this year are the closest we have ever gotten to rekindling those magic nights.

Paul Skenes’ debut was very very close, if not there, and I think tonight was on par with that game. The cheers for every Skenes strikeout, the roars for a Bryan Reynolds grand slam, the “Rowdy!” chants.

Tonight, a perfect storm of Skenes pitching, a giveaway night, a holiday weekend, and a beautiful Friday night helped put together a sellout.

But this doesn’t have to be a once a year kind of night. Nights like these showcase just how much support an actual fully constructed roster would generate in this town.

It has never been a matter of fans not caring. You just have to give them some reason, any reason to show up.

(Featured photo by Gene J. Puskar/AP)