Apr 4, 2026 By Jonathan Guth 7 min read

PITTSBURGH — Pirates fans got what they wanted, and then some, on the 25th anniversary of PNC Park.

Top-prospect Konnor Griffin hit a run-scoring double in his first major league at-bat, Pittsburgh’s offense showed promise, especially from the bottom of the lineup, and Mitch Keller was efficient in a 5-4 victory over Baltimore on Friday afternoon.

“What an at-bat by Konnor,” Bucs manager Don Kelly said. “In his first at-bat to drive a double like that, and to stay with it after seeing two curveballs. He is so mature as a 19-year-old. The ability to stay on that and drive the baseball.

“That’s the most electric I’ve ever seen PNC Park, and a credit to the fans for the atmosphere and electricity because it was unbelievable. I get emotional about that because being from here, and seeing PNC Park like that. We need to keep it up and continue to earn the support from our fans. It was a really good baseball game, and it was a really good atmosphere.”

Griffin received two ovations before his first major league at-bat was complete, and the third occurred when he hit Kyle Bradish’s 85 mph curveball on a 1-2 pitch to center field to score Ryan O’Hearn for a 1-0 lead in the second inning. O’Hearn had walked before scoring on Griffin’s hit with one out.

O’Hearn, who leads the Pirates in hitting with an average of .381, was 0-for-2 but contributed with a walk and RBI. Teammate Brandon Lowe, who Pittsburgh acquired during the offseason via trade with two other teams, doubled in the first inning, and is second on the team in hitting at .333.

Griffin received another ovation when he successfully challenged an umpire’s call on a strike, as ABS overturned the ruling.

“It was special walking up to the plate and hearing the fans go crazy,” Griffin said. “Adding the win was the cherry on top of everything else. That was one of the best hits of my life. This team is awesome. We are going to do a lot of great things, and I am glad to be a part of it. The goal is to compete every day and control what you can control. I am glad to get that first one out of the way, and now we can just go and play baseball.”

The day began with the Pirates honoring the memory of Bill Mazeroski, who died on Feb. 20. Mazeroski is known for hitting a walk-off home run for the Pirates in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series against the New York Yankees at Forbes Field.

Mazeroski was also known for his defense prowess at second base, and the club honored the Hall of Famer by stenciling “Maz” into the field near the spot where second baseman stands during play.

Griffin, who was scouted by Mazeroski’s son, Darren, is the youngest Pirate to record a hit in his MLB debut since Mazeroski singled in his debut on July 7, 1956, at 19 years and 306 days.

Griffin, also 19, trails Mazeroski by 38 days.

“Darren is the reason I’m here,” Griffin said. “He took a chance on me and believed in me. That is pretty special to share a stat line like that with a great player like him (Bill Mazeroski), and I am going to cherish that moment for a long time.”

The sellout crowd of 38,986 cheered every move Griffin made, and booed Bradish when he threw an inside pitch to walk the Bucs’ prized shortstop. Griffin played well in the field, as he ended the first inning with an unassisted force out at second base, and started a 6-4-3 double play to close out the Orioles’ second. He fielded two grounders in the sixth and seventh for outs.

“With that atmosphere, it would be easy to get really nervous, and get anxious and everything, but he was cool, calm and collected,” Kelly said. “It was really impressive.”

Third baseman Jared Triolo, who played as Pittsburgh’s shortstop the first six games of the season prior to Griffin being called up on Thursday, followed the rookie with a single to right for a 2-0 advantage.

The Pirates’ Henry Davis, who batted ninth, doubled to left for a 3-0 cushion before scoring on Oneil Cruz’s single to left for a 4-0 lead.

Cruz attempted to steal second, but was thrown out by Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman, who gunned a strike to shortstop Gunnar Henderson for the second out of the inning. Lowe walked but Bradish forced Bryan Reynolds to fly out to left to get out of the inning without any further damage.

Pittsburgh scored its four runs on four hits and drew two walks.

“We followed Konnor’s double up with base hit after base hit, and ultimately, that’s how we are going to score runs,” Kelly said. “Home runs are great, but we have to continue to stack the bats together and score runs that way.”

Baltimore cut the deficit to 4-2 with two runs in the fifth inning.

Blaze Alexander singled, and after Pittsburgh starting pitcher Mitch Keller recorded a strikeout, Henderson doubled to right field to score Alexander.

Keller sat down Pete Alonso for the second time with a strikeout, but Rutschman doubled to center field for the Orioles’ second run.

Keller forced a grounder to first baseman Spencer Horwitz, who raced to the bag for the third out that got the home team out of the jam without any further damage.

The Pirates extended their advantage to 5-2 in the fifth when Bryan Reynolds and Marcell Ozuna drew back-to-back walks with one out before Reynolds moved up on a wild pitch and scored on O’Hearn’s sacrifice fly to center.

Following a 1-2-3 sixth inning, Keller was removed from the game. The right-hander yielded two earned runs on six hits. He had four strikeouts and four walks on 88 pitches thrown (56 strikes).

“I thought Mitch’s start was phenomenal,” Kelly said. “He had good stuff and was erratic at times with the leadoff guys getting on, but he found a way to get some double plays early, and the way he’s able to slow things down in that atmosphere just speaks to the experience he has and the type of pitcher he is.”

Keller, who threw six scoreless innings against the New York Mets on March 28 in his first start of the season, saw his ERA “jump” to 1.50, but the 2014 second-round MLB Draft pick will take the win before the numbers.

Pittsburgh also turned two double plays with Keller on the mound, including one he started by snagging a line drive off the bat of Alexander in the third.

“I was just attacking the zone,” Keller said. “Henry (Davis) called a really good game and the sinker was good. We had some double plays, but there was some bad, too with the walks, especially in the long innings and to lead off an inning, but overall, I felt like it was pretty good. The atmosphere was pretty special. It felt like a playoff game.”

Baltimore scored a run in the seventh when Alexander singled to center and scored on Taylor Ward’s line-drive double to center to pull the visitors within two.

Henderson’s home run over the wall in right center field with two outs kept the Orioles in the game, but Gregory Soto struck out Alonso, who went down on strikes three times, for his first save of the season.

Yohan Ramirez relieved Keller in the seventh, and allowed one earned run on two hits in ⅓ of an inning before Mason Montgomery finished the final ⅔ with one strikeout. Dennis Santana pitched a perfect eighth before giving the ball to Soto in the ninth.

“Santana and Soto are both phenomenal back-end guys, and we are going to see them in both innings,” Kelly said. “We used Soto in the ninth for matchup purposes.”

Bradish dropped to 0-2 after allowing four earned runs on six hits over four innings. He struck out six and walked three, as his ERA moved up to 6.23.