Matt Olson's grand slam punctuates 7-run 8th inning as Braves pound Pirates

At first glance, the Atlanta Braves handed the Pittsburgh Pirates their worst loss of the season. Kyle Wright tossed seven scoreless innings, the Braves batted around the order twice and Matt Olson delivered a dagger by smacking a grand slam that bounced into the Allegheny River.

The worst part?

The Pirates’ 14-2 loss to the Braves on Wednesday afternoon before 12,060 at PNC Park was their fifth consecutive defeat, seventh in the nine-game homestand and 11th in their last 13.

But it wasn’t even close to their most embarrassing of the season, which is really saying something given it marked the 11th time the Pirates gave up 10 or more runs, the seventh time they lost by double digits and the 12-run differential was their fifth-most lopsided loss of the season.

“It sucks whenever you get blown out,” said Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who served as designated hitter. “You want to be the team doing that to the other team. They won the World Series last year for a reason.”

The Braves got off to an early lead against Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller, who made his first start in eight days. Keller (4-10) was pulled after allowing four earned runs on five hits and three walks over two innings in his previous start Aug. 16 against Boston because of right shoulder fatigue. This time, only two of the seven runs he allowed on seven hits and two walks in 3²⁄₃ innings were earned.

He finished with five strikeouts and threw 53 of his 82 pitches for strikes.

“I try not to look too much into it,” Keller said. “I felt very good, personally, and my pitches felt really good. I felt like I was executing pitches. It’s just a tough team loss, trying to wash it and get back at it.”

After left fielder Tucupita Marcano misplayed an Olson fly ball to the warning track that fell for a double to lead off the second inning, William Contreras drove a 1-0 slider 430 feet to dead center for his 17th home run and a 2-0 Braves lead.

“He gave up the homer,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said, “and then we didn’t help him very much after that.”

The Pirates’ best threat to score against Wright (16-5) came in the third inning, when Tyler Heineman drew a two-out walk, and Oneil Cruz blistered a 366-foot single clocked at an exit velocity of 122.4 mph off the top of the Clemente Wall in right field to set a major-league record for the hardest hit in the Statcast era (since 2015).

“Off the bat, it sounded like a bomb went off,” Keller said. “It was crazy. I don’t even know how he does it. I can’t explain. But if it was like a foot higher, it would have been even better.”

Cruz broke the mark of 122.2 that was set twice by Giancarlo Stanton, first with the Miami Marlins against Atlanta on Oct. 1, 2017 and again for the New York Yankees against Kansas City on Aug. 9, 2021. Cruz now owns the top three hardest-hits by a Pirates player, per Statcast.

“At the moment, I didn’t even think I hit the ball that hard,” Cruz said through translator Mike Gonzalez. “When I came into the dugout, some of my teammates shared with me that I hit it 122 (mph). I smiled but deep down inside I was like, ‘Wow, I really hit that ball hard.’ Now, finding out that I broke a record, it means a lot to me. That’s something positive to take away from today’s game.”

With runners on the corners, however, Kevin Newman lined out to short to end the inning.

The Braves knocked Keller out in the fourth, though two errors contributed to the five-run inning. The first came when a Robbie Grossman grounder rolled through the legs of first baseman Josh VanMeter to score Eddie Rosario and make it 3-0.

“That’s a ball that we’ve just got to catch,” Shelton said. “If that’s the case, we’re out of the inning, it’s (2-0) and we go from there. After that, the inning didn’t go as we wanted it to.”

After Keller walked Ronald Acuna Jr. to load the bases, Dansby Swanson hit a bases-clearing double down the right-field line for a 6-0 lead and advanced to third when VanMeter’s relay throw skipped past catcher Jason Delay on Acuna’s slide at home plate. Austin Riley followed with a single to score Swanson for a 7-0 Braves lead.

That was it for Keller. The Pirates turned to their bullpen, and Manny Banuelos, Duane Underwood Jr. and Eric Stout pitched scoreless innings before Colin Holderman gave up a walk followed by three consecutive singles, including one by Acuna to score Harris and make it 8-0. With the bases loaded, Holderman hit Riley on the left hip with a pitch, scoring Grossman as the Braves stretched their lead to 9-0.

Then it got even worse.

After Holderman was removed from the game because of right shoulder discomfort, Olson drilled lefty Cam Vieaux’s 0-1 slider 420 feet over the right-field seats and into the Allegheny River on a bounce for his fifth career grand slam and a 13-0 lead. Olson became the 45th player to reach the river, marking the 66th time a ball landed in the water. The Braves added a Grossman single to score Riley for a 14-0 lead.

The Pirates’ bats finally came alive in the ninth inning. Newman drilled a 397-foot leadoff homer to left field off Kirby Yates to prevent the shutout. Ben Gamel hit a one-out single to right and advanced to third on a double to left-center by Hayes. Gamel scored on Marcano’s sacrifice fly to center to cut it to 14-2.

“This one got out of hand quickly, and then it got out of hand even more,” Shelton said. “I think it’s a good thing we have an off day to get away and be able to flush this one out. … I don’t think any one of those weighs any more than any other loss. When games get out of hand like that you flush them. Close games are challenging, but I don’t look at it like that.”