Pittsburgh-Native Cole Young Sinks Pirates With Late 2-Run Home Run

Danny Demilio |

Jun 23, 2026

Cole Young, Pittsburgh Pirates — Photo provided by Matt Lynch

PITTSBURGH — North Allegheny graduate Cole Young hit the game-winning home run off Mitch Keller to sink his hometown Pirates and give the Mariners a 3-2 win on Tuesday night at PNC Park.

Scoring Plays

Bottom 2nd, 1-0 PIT: Marcell Ozuna plated Endy Rodríguez with a base hit to center field off George Kirby (6-7) to give the Pirates (39-40) an early lead.

Bottom 3rd, 2-0 PIT: With two on and one out, Nick Gonzales reached on an infield single to third base. Spencer Horwitz scored from second on Colt Emerson’s throwing error across the diamond.

Top 4th, 2-1 PIT: Cal Raleigh got the Mariners (41-39) on the board with a solo home run to right off Mitch Keller (5-5). It was Raleigh’s first home run since April 27.

Top 7th, 3-2 SEA: Keller held the Mariners at bay for most of his outing, but after a leadoff double from Luke Raley, Cole Young put Seattle ahead with a two-run home run to right field.

Key Moments

Cole Young’s home run was his seventh of the season. He joins the likes of Ian Happ and JJ Wetherholt as Pittsburgh-natives to burn their hometown team.

What a moment for Cole Young! #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/nUBWkveYRq
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) June 24, 2026

The Pirates had a runner on second base with one out in the eighth but were unable to push across the tying run against Eduard Bazardo. Endy Rodríguez struck out, Marcell Ozuna walked and Jake Mangum flew out to center for the final out.

Player of the Game

George Kirby worked around around some early shakiness and subpar defense behind him to deliver a strong start for the Mariners. He allowed two runs (one earned) in six innings.

Stat to Know

Bryan Reynolds extended his hit streak to 13 games and his on-base streak to 28 games. His on-base streak, which was tied with the Athletics’ Zack Gelof for the longest active one in MLB entering play, is tied for the longest Reynolds has had in a single season in his career.

Notable Performances

Mitch Keller: 6.0 innings, seven hits, three runs, one walk, four strikeouts, 92 pitches/63 strikes
Brandon Lowe: 2 for 5, one double, one run
Nick Gonzales: 2 for 4
Marcell Ozuna: 1 for 3, one RBI, one walk

Noteworthy

This was Mitch Keller’s eighth quality start of the season and first since May 24 against the Blue Jays.
Brandon Lowe extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single in the third inning. He finished with two hits.
The Pirates out-hit the Mariners 9-8. Pittsburgh was 35-10 when out-hitting their opponents on the season.

Up Next

The Pirates will send out RHP Braxton Ashcraft (6-3, 3.18 ERA) for the second game of the series on Wednesday night. He’ll be opposed by RHP Bryan Woo (6-5, 3.94 ERA). First pitch: 6:40 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh/93.7 The Fan.