PITTSBURGH -- Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak's birthday celebration was perfect enough, even if he didn’t end up with the cycle.
Moniak turned 28 on Wednesday, and celebrated it with not only a three-run homer in the Rockies’ six-run fifth inning, but a double, a triple and five total RBIs in a 10-4 victory over the Pirates at PNC Park. The Rockies have a chance at a .500 road trip with a win on Thursday afternoon.
Moniak joined Nyjer Morgan (in 2011) as the only players in the Modern Era to finish a single shy of a cycle on his birthday. Trea Turner is the only player to cycle on his birthday -- June 30, 2021 with the Nationals against the Rays.
“I guess if I wanted the single, I should have got that done in my first two at-bats,” Moniak said.
Before the fifth, which started with five straight Rockies hits, none of the Rockies had as much as reached base against Pirates starter Mitch Keller.
The Rockies trailed, 3-0, before a fifth-inning leadoff single by TJ Rumfield, who homered later. Rumfield’s hit was followed by singles by Troy Johnston and Kyle Karros, an RBI double by Jake McCarthy and a game-tying RBI single by Ezequiel Tovar.
An unsuccessful Brett Sullivan squeeze bunt and an Edouard Julien soft liner merely set up Moniak for his blast to right field off Keller. Moniak added an eighth-inning leadoff double and he ended the game a single shy of the cycle after he hit a two-run triple in the ninth.
“Mickey has been right there with the big swings,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “The three-run homer was huge tonight. But he just keeps taking big swings for us.”
Moniak has played three times on his birthday. Twice he has gone deep. He did it on May 13, 2023 for the Angels against the Guardians. Last year, his birthday brought an 0-for-2 against the Rangers for the Rockies -- who picked him up just before Opening Day after the Angels released him.
The homer marked the 25th time in Rockies history (since 1993) that a player has gone deep on his birthday. Todd Helton is the Rockies’ career leader in birthday homers with five, followed by Charlie Blackmon with three.
Fun facts aside, Moniak doesn’t need to blow out candles to have a big day.
The homer, Moniak’s 12th, put him in a tie for third in the National League in the category at the time the Rockies’ game ended. He entered the game leading the league in slugging and increased that figure from .648 to .693.
Moniak’s favorite present came in the way the Rockies won, by figuring out a pitcher that was breezing.
On Tuesday, Pirates ace Paul Skenes struck out 10 in eight innings of a 3-1 victory. Keller entered Wednesday with a 2.87 ERA that included several stellar performances. He fit with the difficult pitching that the Rockies faced while dropping two of three in Philadelphia and the first game in Pittsburgh.
Now the Rockies will send developing frontline starter Chase Dollander against the Pirates on Thursday afternoon with a chance to finish the road trip at .500 -- after going 4-2 on their previous road swing against the Mets and the Reds.
“This was a testament to not panicking as an offense,” Moniak said. “[Keller] kept us down for the first four innings. We were able to put together some at-bats. Guys were able to put the ball in play and make some things happen.
“That starts before the game. As baseball players, we’re trying to watch him [and] see what he’s doing. We’ve got a scouting report and there’s a lot of information out there, but sometimes they adjust their plan. It’s on us to make adjustments, ourselves. I’ll talk to Eddie [Julien] or TJ [Rumfield] or Jake [McCarthy], then go to righties. We bounce things off each other as the game goes on.”
As this one went along, it became a party for Moniak and the Rockies.