O'Hearn homers as part of 3-hit day, credits coaches for stance adjustments

PITTSBURGH – Here is an illustration of just how much the Pirates felt Ryan O'Hearn could help their offense – during the offseason, they signed him to a two-year contract as a free agent.

To put that in perspective, the Pirates hadn’t signed a free agent to a multiyear deal since agreeing to terms on a three-year contract with pitcher Ivan Nova in 2016.

O’Hearn has justified the Pirates’ faith, as he is hitting .299 with seven home runs this season. He had three hits, including a two-run homer in the first inning, to lead the Pirates to a 7-2 victory over the Rockies on Thursday at PNC Park. The Pirates won two of three in the series.

O’Hearn’s two-run homer to right field off Chase Dollander capped a three-run first inning, and the Pirates made the lead stand up on a day in which they used five pitchers. The home run came after Oneil Cruz led off the inning with a double and scored on Bryan Reynolds’ single.

The Pirates finished with 12 hits, and O’Hearn was one of four players with multiple hits.

O’Hearn was hitting .238/.289/.357 with one home run in 11 games in May prior to Thursday. That came after a fine first month when he had a .306/.394/.481 slash line with five homers.

Yet O’Hearn seems back on track, and he thanks the Pirates' coaching staff for that development.

“Credit to the hitting department, they kind of showed me how my setup was a little bit different than it was in April. The kind of thing that just happens without even thinking about it,” O’Hearn said. “That kind of helped me out, freed me up a little bit.”

O’Hearn also homered Wednesday night in a 10-4 loss.

“Yesterday [I] got to that fastball, that was a ball inside,” O’Hearn said. “That pitch has been blowing me up the last couple of weeks. It was a good adjustment. Seeing it pretty good right now, just going to keep riding the wave.”

O’Hearn then went into a granular explanation of his adjustments. Very granular.

“I was two inches wider, my hands were closer to my head, and my left foot was turned six degrees closer to the third base dugout instead of more towards the pitcher,” O’Hearn said. “I was just off. Part of the season, and I’m glad they caught it when they did.”

The details may seem minute, but they made a big difference to O’Hearn.

“I think when you are in it every day, and you are chasing different feels and swings you’ve had over the years, trying to get back right, you don’t realize exactly what your body is doing, and it takes a quality hitting department like we have to find it and bring it to my attention.”

Endy Rodríguez had two hits, including a two-run single in a three-run third when the Pirates extended their lead to 6-0. Rodríguez was making his season debut after being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis two days earlier when fellow catcher Joey Bart was placed on the 10-day injured list with an infected left foot.

Rookie Konnor Griffin and Jared Triolo also had two hits apiece.

Carmen Mlodzinski (3-3) pitched five innings and allowed two runs to get the win in a bulk relief role. Mason Montgomery pitched a scoreless first and struck out three as the opener.

"To come up in the first inning, set the tone like that and put three across, O'Hearn with the big home run, and then continue to grind at-bats out, I think that is the big key,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “When we're clicking, we're getting those big base hits, it's nice to have.”