Michael Perez Blasts Three of Pirates Five Homers in Bucs 8-7 Win Over Brewers

For the second straight game, a Pirates player hit three homers, and this time it was an unlikely source. Michael Perez hit three homers as part of a four-hit night. As a team, the Pirates blasted five long balls, which provided all the offense as the Pirates downed the Brewers 8-7 at PNC Park on Thursday night.

The Pirates five homers come on the heels of a four-homer game in their 8-7 win over the Nationals on Wednesday. Perez becomes the third Pirates player to record a three-homer game this month, joining Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwisnki. It became the first time in franchise history that three different Pirates had three-homer games in the same season, and the first time in Major League history a team had three players record a three-homer game in the same month.

A pair of Pirates rookies hit back-to-back homers in the second inning. The first was a mammoth blast off the bat of Oneil Cruz that measured 431 feet. Suwinski followed with his 13th long ball of the season, the most among rookies in all of Major League Baseball.

O me, O my, Oneil! pic.twitter.com/1iBvi481bN

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 30, 2022

We're going back-to-back! pic.twitter.com/8g7XY8X7Ci

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 30, 2022

The Brewers answered in the top of the third when Jace Peterson led off the inning with a double, followed by a Christian Yelich triple. Yelich scored on a groundout off the bat of Willy Adames, making it a 3-2 ballgame.

After Kolten Wong doubles to leadoff the fourth, the third straight inning in which Pirates starter JT Brubaker surrendered a leadoff double, Omar Narvaez recorded a two-bagger that knocked in Wong, tying the game 3-3.

Perez put the Pirates back in front with a two-run shot off of Brent Suter, who came into the game for the injured Adrian Houser. Perez recorded a multi-hit game for the first time since last September.

Perez with the pop! pic.twitter.com/tXqF25oOBz

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 1, 2022

Houser left the game in the fourth inning after issuing a free pass to Daniel Vogelbach. The Brewers say Houser left with right elbow tightness.

Andrew McCutchen doubled to begin the sixth inning, and later came around to score on a Luis Urias groundout, cutting the Pirates lead to one.

That was all for Brubaker, who allowed four runs over six innings of work. He allowed seven hits, six of of which went for extra bases. He walked two, struck out six and threw 66 of his 94 pitches for strikes.

Perez came through again with his second-two run homer of the night to tack on a pair of insurances runs for Pittsburgh, putting the Bucs ahead 7-4.

PEREZ DOES IT AGAIN!! pic.twitter.com/NbYbD4VVuI

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 1, 2022

Just for good measure, Perez recorded a hat trick with his third homer, becoming the first Pirates catcher in team history to have a three-homer game.

HAVE A GAME, MICHAEL PEREZ!!! pic.twitter.com/gcCUH9tXR1

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 1, 2022

The Brewers made things interesting in the ninth off of David Bednar. Adames roped an RBI double into the left-center gap. Rowdy Tellez plated a run with a groundout, making it an 8-6 game. Michael Chavis couldn’t make a diving play on a sharp grounder off the bat of Wong, resulting in an RBI-single for Wong and a one-run game.

Yerry De Los Santos then entered the game and recorded the save for the second straight game. The Bucs defeated Milwaukee for the first time this season after having dropped the first six contests.

The second game of this four-game set is Friday night. It will be quite the pitching matchup as Roansy Contreras (2-1, 2.76 ERA) will matchup with reigning National League Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes (6-4, 2.41 ERA).

Takeaways 

• Big Night For Big Mike: What a game it was for Perez, who recorded his first career multi-homer game. Perez also recorded a four-hit performance for the first time in his career. If the night wasn’t memorable enough, he set a career-high with five runs driven in. The backstop entered play with a .413 OPS, and ended the night with a .584 mark.
• The Comfort Of Home: Suwinski’s homerun was his 13th of the season, and the 10th he’s hit this season at PNC Park. Suwinski has raked in Pittsburgh this season as he entered play with a .580 slugging percentage and a .907 OPS in 31 games in his home stadium and those numbers improved thanks to a two-hit performance. On the road, Suwinski hasn’t enjoyed nearly the same success, as he has just a .146 batting average and a .520 OPS. The rookie will look to even out those splits as the season progresses, but he’ll surely take the success at home.
• A Double To Start: The Brewers recorded leadoff doubles in four out of the six innings against Brubaker. Brubaker went unscathed the first time around, but the Brewers made him pay each of the three other instances as all four of the earned runs to Brubaker came after allowing leadoff two-baggers. Considering how it could have been, Brubaker did a relatively good job of limiting Milwaukee as best he could.
• (Almost) History: Thanks to a lot of fireworks for the second straight day, the Pirates end the month of June with 44 homers, just shy of the club’s all-time record for any month. The 44 long balls eclipse the 43 hit in Aug. 1947, and are just shy of the all-time club record of 45 hit in Aug. 2007.