Randy Dobnak may have technically been pitching on the road at PNC Park, but on Wednesday night, he looked right at home.
That’s probably because the Pirates’ ballpark is, sort of, home. Dobnak, a Pittsburgh native, grew up watching games at PNC Park and, as a young ballplayer, dreamed of someday playing there. He finally got that chance on Wednesday, and he dominated, spinning six shutout innings in the Twins’ 5-2 win over the Pirates.
“It was a fun night. It's the way you hope it plays out for a guy on your team in a big moment, in the place where he really wants to be,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said.
The victory -- a nailbiter until the Twins piled on with a four-run ninth that included a three-run homer from Max Kepler -- extended the Twins’ winning streak to six. Fittingly, the streak began with Dobnak, who threw five scoreless frames in a home victory over the Indians on July 31. The 10-2 Twins are now off to their best 12-game start in their history.
Despite the ninth-inning fireworks, this night was all about Dobnak. He heard from countless family and friends in the days leading up to this game and again when it was over.
If Dobnak was hoping to live up to the hype with his performance on the mound, he succeeded.
“I think I’ll remember a lot of the love that people have shown me,” Dobnak said. “People I went to high school with; teachers from high school. The whole community. Hundreds of people reached out to me to say, ‘We’re looking forward to watching the game, we’re really upset that we can’t be there.’”
This storyline had a dozen compelling angles, starting with the Bucs’ No. 6 hitter, Gregory Polanco, a long-time Pirate who was high on Dobnak’s list of favorite players.
Six years ago, before he was a professional pitcher, Dobnak was on vacation in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with his now-wife, Aerial, frantically searching for a restaurant that was showing the Pirates game. Polanco was making his Major League debut that day and Dobnak didn’t want to miss it.
“We’re panicking, running around to all the restaurants, trying to find the game,” Dobnak said “Finally, we found it. As we walked in, I think he came up to the plate.”
On Wednesday, Polanco came up to the plate again -- twice -- to face Dobnak. He grounded out both times.
“I didn’t really see myself being like a fanboy in the moment when he came to the plate,” Dobnak said. “I’m here to do a certain job, but it was definitely cool to see him at the plate.”
Dobnak, 25, grew up in South Park, Penn., a 20-minute drive from PNC Park. He was a toddler when he attended the final Pirates game played at Three Rivers Stadium and the PNC Park opener the following year.
Though he was too young to have memories of those games, Dobnak remembers most of the others. And there were a lot. Dobnak attended every Opening Day with his family throughout his childhood, until he went to college. In total, Dobnak estimated he’s attended around 150 Pirates games.
The vantage point this time, obviously, was better. It was a view Dobnak couldn’t have imagined as a youth, standing in the right-field bleachers and begging Andrew McCutchen to say hello to him.
“Every once in a while, he’d turn around and say, ‘Hi,’” Dobnak recalled, “and I’d think that was the coolest thing ever.”
Dobnak used to follow the Pirates’ every move. When they won, he tweeted, “Raise the Jolly Roger,” the team’s signature rally cry. He attended many key games, such as Gerrit Cole’s debut in 2013, though he missed the first part because beefed-up security outside the ballpark caused a log-jam at the entrance.
Wednesday's visit to PNC Park was different, of course, and not just because Dobnak didn't have to wait in line to get in. The stands were empty, which meant the 200 friends and family he estimated would have attended in more normal times had to watch elsewhere. His parents, who still live in South Park, scouted out spots around the ballpark that could maybe let them peer inside from a distance, but Dobnak doubted they’d find much logic in standing on the Clemente Bridge for a faraway glimpse from beyond left-center field.
But even under the odd circumstances that have defined the 2020 season for everyone, Dobnak was happy to be “home.”
“When I first got out there, I kind of looked at the backdrop of the whole city, which is pretty awesome,” Dobnak said of the picturesque view PNC Park is famous for. “To be out there on the mound, I’m the one in charge right now, I’m pitching, rather than being in the stands or watching on TV. It was me out there tonight, and it was pretty cool.”