PITTSBURGH -- Tyler Callihan was already riding high entering his pivotal at-bat in the bottom of the eighth. A few innings earlier, Callihan blasted his first MLB home run out of PNC Park -- off starter Shohei Ohtani no less -- as it bounced into the Allegheny River.
Coming up to the plate with two runners on base and the Pirates trailing the Dodgers by two, Callihan blasted a three-run shot to flip the game on its head. Pittsburgh held on for a 9-8 win, snapping a four-game skid.
The Pirates’ offense had struggled across the past four games. Pittsburgh, which entered with the sixth most runs scored in the Majors, scored just 2.75 per game in the previous four. Facing Ohtani made things more difficult.
With Oneil Cruz landing on the injured list on Wednesday with fourth and fifth-metacarpal non-displaced fractures in his left hand, the task only grew.
Callihan, ranked as Pittsburgh's No. 29 prospect, struck first with a solo shot in the fourth, and in the seventh, Brandon Lowe doubled for two runs to make it a 6-3 deficit and chase Ohtani. Another run crossed on an error by Max Muncy. Then came Callihan’s second shot. Spencer Horwitz added on with a two-run homer to stretch the lead to three, and Gregory Soto closed it out despite Ohtani going deep in the ninth.
Ohtani’s 0.74 ERA coming into the contest was the lowest in MLB among pitchers with a minimum of 50 innings. His stardom didn’t phase the Pirates, who became the first team to tally three or more runs off Ohtani this season.