Pirates Insider: Ryan O'Hearn, Shawn Ross hit fun homers, but there's bigger meaning here

The external competition was obvious.

After two losses to open their biggest homestand in a decade, in the thick of a playoff race, the Pirates needed to salvage a game Sunday against the Cubs.

They accomplished that goal with an 8-7 victory at PNC Park, but there was an internal competition that broke out as well: What’s more impressive, a homer in your first MLB start or a grand slam on your birthday?

“Oooh, first major league start,” said Shawn Ross, unsurprisingly picking his own feat.

While Esmerlyn Valdez knocked in what would become the winning run with his fifth-inning single, Braxton Ashcraft battled, Mason Montgomery earned the save, and the Pirates smacked three home runs, Ross and Ryan O’Hearn competed for the best storyline of the afternoon in front of 32,921 for the finale of Yinzerpalooza weekend.

On his 33rd birthday, O’Hearn crushed an elevated four-seamer for a grand slam to center in the third, giving the Pirates a 7-1 lead with his 17th homer of the season.

The swing was impressive, though not surprising given what we’ve seen from O’Hearn this season. What’s more notable is what Pirates fans should hope it represents.

Prior to this one, O’Hearn was hitting .178 with just one extra-base hit (a double) since his three-homer, 10-RBI game on July 7. That included an out that should’ve been a hit at Yankee Stadium, which incensed O’Hearn. But true to what he’s brought the Pirates this season, he’s been the same guy.

In fact, since the All-Star break, O’Hearn, Bryan Reynolds and Brandon Lowe were hitting a combined .146 (12 for 82) with two extra-base hits and 25 strikeouts, though you’d never know it by how professionally they’ve carried themselves.

“It's baseball,” O’Hearn said. “If you have 600 plate appearances, you're gonna have some tough stretches. So, just not paying attention to outside noise or anything like that, staying locked in on the process and not getting too emotional about it.

“Just trusting, believing in myself, and knowing I'm not too far off. It's what good hitters do.”

That mentality is why O’Hearn has been so valuable to the Pirates, and it’ll only increase in the coming weeks.

Sunday’s win raised the Pirates’ record to 54-52, while they’re 12-10 during this current run against teams .500 or better. It should be better, while the Pirates were coming off one of their worst losses of the season Saturday.

O’Hearn helped with the response. Ditto for Lowe (three hits, including a double) and even Reynolds, who doubled two batters before O’Hearn’s homer.

“He’s a pro,” Kelly said of O’Hearn. “He’s a leader in our clubhouse the way he gets after it every day. You wouldn’t know whether he’s going through it, if he’s swinging the bat well or he’s not.

“Are there frustrations at times? There are for every player that plays this game because it’s a hard game to play. Especially from a hitting standpoint. You wouldn’t know with him. He works hard every single day. I can honestly say that for everybody in there.”

There’s something ironic about O’Hearn and Ross being intertwined in this one. You won’t find two players with more circuitous routes to their current spots.

O’Hearn was a starter, a bench player and got DFA’d a couple times before rising from the dead to become an All-Star last season, the journey taking him for Kansas City to Baltimore and San Diego, teaching him to appreciate every big league minute.

Ross, meanwhile, played college baseball at NAIA Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala. When the Pirates signed him to a free agent contract in December 2022, Ross was playing independent ball for the Grand Junction Rockies in the Pioneer League. Yet by 2024, Ross hit 23 home runs with High-A Greensboro to lead the South Atlantic League.

Which is why, when Ross blasted a two-run homer in the second inning, manager Don Kelly — an NAIA product himself at Point Park — was glad he was wearing sunglasses.

“I think I teared up when he hit it,” Kelly said. “It was unbelievable for him to have that moment. It was a huge hit in the game.”

A huge one, period.

Ross crushed Jameson Taillon’s cutter 438 feet at 110.6 mph, a bomb. He smiled as he rounded the bases. His teammates shook their heads in amazement.

“I didn't know he had juice like that,” O’Hearn said. “That was impressive.”

Told of O’Hearn’s comments, Ross cracked a wry smile.

“I have sneaky pop,” he said. “It felt good.”

Ross hails from Santurce, Puerto Rico. Prime Clemente country.

His phone postgame was blowing up with the news, while Ross couldn’t wait to return to the field and spend more time around his parents, who’ve only seen him play one other time here.

“Puerto Rico is really known to be a great support system,” Ross said. “Everybody is texting me and congratulating me. It’s just amazing, and I’m proud of myself because of that.”

He should be. Ross hit .174 in the Minors last year and was at .163 this season when he got the call after Rafael Flores Jr. went on the seven-day concussion list.

It hasn’t been an ideal offensive season, but you never would have known it by how Ross carried himself Sunday.

Sort of like how O’Hearn had been scuffling, Esmerlyn Valdez (one for his last 12, seven strikeouts) was quiet or the Pirates’ offense writ large — limited to just 29 runs in eight games (23rd) — hasn’t been the same since the break.

As the road narrows and the games increase in importance, the Pirates know they need both kinds: leaders and young guys. It’s also why it doesn’t matter which homer is more impressive.

They just need to win.

“We’ve been good at [bouncing back] all year,” O’Hearn said. “That’s kind of been our thing. [Sunday] was no different, trying to save a series.

“I think that’s pretty consistent with good teams. When things go down, you find a way to get out of it, bounce back and get that positive momentum swing.”

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.