Twenty-seven years, and then three swings
Oneil Cruz turned on a pitch in the fourth inning at American Family Field and sent it out for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 172nd home run of 2026. That swing erased a number that had sat in the record book since 1999, when a Pirates team built around Brian Giles and Kevin Young hit 171 across a full season.
Brandon Lowe and Rafael Flores Jr. added two more before the night was over. Pittsburgh finished the evening on 174, with eleven games still to play.
The strangeness is that a club sitting at 75-77 is rewriting its own power record. Pittsburgh have spent most of this decade near the bottom of the National League in slugging. Their manager does not think the change came from anyone swinging harder.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily guys going up there trying to hit home runs,” Don Kelly said.
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Flores hit his the other way
Flores backed up his manager without meaning to. His go-ahead shot in the sixth came off JoJo Romero, and the rookie catcher described an at-bat about staying inside the ball rather than lifting it.
“After I swung through that first sinker, my approach was just to hit it to right field,” Flores said. “I was late the first time and I just tried to be a little earlier and swing a little less harder and I was able to barrel it.”
The lead lasted an inning. Pittsburgh had scored three straight runs to move in front, then watched Christian Yelich punch a two-run single through in the seventh to make it 5-4 Milwaukee, which is how it ended.
A rotation reshuffle on Thursday
The series finishes Thursday afternoon with Wilber Dotel opening a bullpen game for Pittsburgh. Dotel is 1-5 with a 4.84 ERA and last started on Friday, when he gave up three runs in two innings of a 12-2 loss to the Cubs. He faced these Brewers on Tuesday for two-thirds of a scoreless inning.
Milwaukee counter with Kyle Harrison, moved up in place of Dustin May as the rotation gets reshaped for October. Harrison is 10-4 with a 3.98 ERA but has conceded 19 runs in his last three appearances, including four without recording an out against Cincinnati on Saturday. Pittsburgh have never scored on him: three career starts, 17 innings, no runs.
The season series stands at six wins each. Whoever takes Thursday takes the year.
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