Bryan Reynolds Continues to Sizzle With Biggest Swing of His Season
PITTSBURGH — Bryan Reynolds entered Friday night’s game on a torrid stretch, hitting safely in each of his last six games with a .524 batting average (11 for 21) during the streak.
With the Pirates down by a run with a runner on first and one out in the bottom of the ninth against the Minnesota Twins on Friday, Reynolds stepped into the right-handed batter’s box looking to not only extend his hitting streak, but do his part in helping the Pirates try and scrap across a win.
Reynolds did hit part and more. The Pirates right fielder belted a two-run home run off left-handed Taylor Rogers to turn a one-run deficit into a one-run win.
“Really cool to see in that moment, bottom of the ninth at home, to hit a walk-off in front of that crowd,” manager Don Kelly said after the game. “The crowd was awesome tonight, electric and into it.”
Spencer Horwitz led off the inning with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Tyler Callihan at first base. After Brandon Lowe struck out, the Pirates were down to their final two outs for the veteran Reynolds.
Rogers fired a 2-2 sinker left up and in the zone, and Reynolds did not miss. His laser of a home run jumped off the bat at 110 mph and traveled 422 feet. The blast was followed by an emphatic bat drop. Reynolds knew it immediately.
“I thought I flew out,” Reynolds joked after the game. “No, I got every bit of it.”
When Horwitz was walking off the field after the Pirates went with Callihan as a pinch-runner, he took a second to say something to Reynolds, who was waiting on the on-deck circle with Lowe at the plate.
Horwitz gets credit for an assist on the game-winning swing.
“He was trying to help me out and give me an idea of what the pitches were looking like,” said Reynolds.
Reynolds’ recent hot stretch has lifted his overall numbers to some of the best of his career. The season is barely passed the one-third mark, but the 31-year-old is now batting .273 with a .395 on-base percentage and an .834 OPS. His OBP is the highest he’s ever had in a season in his career, and his batting average and OPS are the highest marks since his All-Star campaign in 2021.
“Bryan has been swinging it extremely well,” said Kelly.
Reynolds’ hot stretch might only be a glimpse of what’s to come. The calendar will soon flip to June, the month in which, historically, Reynolds has had the most success. In 143 career games in the first month of summer, Reynolds owns a .326/.394/.552 batting line with 26 home runs and 83 RBI.
A bounce-back season from Reynolds is one of several reasons the Pirates have had a much-improved season offensively as a team.
After slumping to the worst season of his career outside of the pandemic-shortened 2020, Reynolds has had plenty of big swings this season, but none bigger than the one he provided on Friday night.
“That was sick,” he said after his second-career walk-off home run.
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