Spencer Horwitz Powers Pirates Past Braves
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PITTSBURGH — First baseman Spencer Horwitz had his best display of power with the Pittsburgh Pirates, powering them to a 9-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in the series opener at Truist Park.
The Pirates have won five out of the last six games, with two wins to end the series vs. the Athletics at PNC Park, Sept. 20-21, and two wins to start the series vs. the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, Sept. 23-24.
Pittsburgh improves to 70-90 overall and 26-53 on the road, while Atlanta falls to 75-85 overall and 38-41 at home.
Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Mitch Keller took the mound for the final time in 2025 against the Braves and gave up a solo home run to first baseman Matt Olson, coming off a sweeper over the middle of the plate, putting the home team up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning.
Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña almost homered himself immediately afterwards, hitting a fastball over the middle all the way to the center field wall, but held up for a single with one out.
He made it to second base on a wild pitch from Keller, who then got Braves catcher Drake Baldwin to ground out, moving Acuña to third base. Keller stranded Acuña, as he struck out shortstop Ha-Seong Kim.
The Pirates faced Braves left-handed starting pitcher Joey Wentz, who began the season with the Pirates, making the Opening Day roster and 19 appearances out of the bullpen.
Wentz threw a scoreless first inning, but walked first baseman Spencer Horwitz and then gave up a two-run home run to left fielder Tommy Pham, who crushed a slider 433 feet into the left field seats, giving the Pirates a 2-1 lead.
That marked the first home run for Pham since he hit one in the series opener vs. the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on Sept. 9 and his 10th of the season,
Oh. OK, Pham! pic.twitter.com/Hd0dcjdExU
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 26, 2025
Second baseman Nick Yorke hit a one-out single and then took second base on the wild pitch from Wentz. Catcher Henry Davis singled after and then scored Yorke, making it a 3-1 Pirates lead.
Davis stole second base and shortstop Nick Gonzales came through with a single of his own, scoring Davis to extend the Pirates' advantage to 4-1.
Keller had an easier second inning, but then walked the bases loaded, while striking out Olson in between.
He escaped unscathed, as he struck out Kim and then got center fielder Michael Harris II to end the inning.
Keller started the bottom of the fourth inning by striking out both designated hitter Marcell Ozuna and third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr., but walked both second baseman Brett Wisely and left fielder Jurickson Profar.
Pirates manager Don Kelly took out Keller, bringing in right-handed relief pitcher Yohan Ramírez, who struck out Olson, stranding both runners.
Keller finished his final start with the Pirates in 2025, by giving up five walks, three hits and one run over 89 pitches, plus six strikeouts over 3.2 innings of work.
The Pirates loaded the bases to start the top of the fifth inning, as right fielder Bryan Reynolds singled and both designated hitter Andrew McCutchen and Horwitz walked.
Pham then struck out, Jack Suwinski came on as a pinch-hitter for center fielder Alexander Canario and also struck out, then Yorke hit into a ground out, as the Pirates failed to add onto their lead.
Rookie right-handed pitcher Mike Burrows came on for the Pirates over the next two innings. He gave up two hits, including a solo home run to Harris to leadoff the bottom of the sixth inning, but kept the Braves within two runs at 4-2.
Horwitz added onto this his strong night, by hitting a solo home run with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, sending a low slider out 403 feet into the Chop House, making it a 5-2 Pirates lead.
That marked the first home run for Horwitz since he hit a two-run home run in the series opener vs. the Washington Nationals at National Park and also his 10th home run on the season.
Love a good bat drop. pic.twitter.com/BXWk1HeSZy
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 27, 2025
The game then entered a rain delay, which lasted almost 50 minutes, before play resumed.
Right-handed relief pitcher Isaac Mattson took over for Burrows in the bottom of the seventh inning. He got two quick outs, before giving up a single to Acuña and then a double to Baldwin, scoring Acuña and trimming the deficit to 5-3.
The Pirates brought in right-handed relief pitcher Kyle Nicolas in the bottom of the eighth inning. Nicolas gave up a leadoff double to Harris, but then struck out Ozuna, got Alvarez to fly out and then struck out pinch-hitter Eli White to keep the road team up.
Third baseman Jared Triolo leadoff the top of the ninth inning with a double and then Gonzales singled and then Braves second baseman Nick Allen threw it wide, allowing Triolo to score to make it 6-3.
McCutchen singled with two outs and then Horwitz sent a four-seam fastball over the middle of the plate 413 feet into the right field seats for a three-run home run, increasing the Pirates' lead to 9-3.
This marked his first multi-home run game with the Pirates and the third of his career, with his last one also coming vs. the Braves at Truist Park on Sept. 7, 2024.
HOMERwitz! pic.twitter.com/seCGT9hNTP
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 27, 2025
Right-handed relief pitcher Dennis Santana threw a scoreless ninth inning and secured another road win for the Pirates.
The Pirates improve to 3-1 over the Braves this season, as they took two out of three games at PNC Park, May 9-11.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.