Fastball

Pittsburgh Pirates Put Together Offensive Outburst Not Seen in Last 66 Years of History

Pittsburgh and the Colorado Rockies put up a combined 33 runs in Friday night's back-and-forth affair.
Brady Farkas|
Pittsburgh Pirates designated hitter Andrew McCutchen (22) wears a shirt bearing a quote attributed to Pirates former right fielder Dave Parker to commemorate Parkers memory on the weekend of his induction into the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park on July 26.
Pittsburgh Pirates designated hitter Andrew McCutchen (22) wears a shirt bearing a quote attributed to Pirates former right fielder Dave Parker to commemorate Parkers memory on the weekend of his induction into the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park on July 26. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

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Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies played one of the most wild games in recent memory on Friday night, with the Rockies topping their National League counterparts 17-16 at Coors Field.

The Pirates scored nine runs in the top of the first inning to take a 9-0 lead, ultimately building leads of 12-4 and 15-6 before things unraveled entirely. The Rockies scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 15-10 and then scored two in the eighth to make it 15-12. Pittsburgh put up a 16th run in the top of the ninth, only to surrender five runs in the bottom half of the frame and lose on a walk-off home run by Brenton Doyle.

It was a devastating loss for Pittsburgh, who is now 47-63 on the season. The Rockies improved to 29-80.

Despite the loss, the Pirates made some offensive history, pounding out 10 hits in the top of the first inning. Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

This was the Pirates’ first 10-hit inning since Aug. 6, 1959, in the 9th against the Cardinals

h/t @EliasSports

How the first inning played out

Spencer Horwitz led off the game with a single, followed by a single from Andrew McCutchen. Bryan Reynolds then singled home a run making it 1-0.

Nick Gonzalez followed with a single to load the bases before Oneil Cruz hit a grand slam to center field. That made it 5-0 before the Pirates started up again. Tommy Pham singled and Joey Bart walked before Jared Triolo bounced into a double play. Isiah Kiner-Falefa brought home a run with another single to make it 6-0 and then Horwitz walked.

McCutchen blasted a three-run home run to make it 9-0 and the Pirates then got two more hits before the inning was finally over.

The two teams will play again on Saturday at 3:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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