To the river!: Pirates OF Joshua Palacios flashes power at the plate with homer into the Allegheny

Joshua Palacios knew the moment his bat connected with Chicago Cubs left-hander Justin Steele’s 2-1 fastball in the third inning Thursday night that it was a home run to tie the game for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“Yeah, knew we got that one,” Palacios said, flashing a confident smile to match his power. “Felt pretty good there. Had a plan, and we executed. I was happy about that.”

What Palacios didn’t know was that the ball cleared the right field seats, sailed out of PNC Park and into the Allegheny River. It was the third river shot of the season — as Palacios joined Toronto’s Daulton Varsho and former Pirates teammate Carlos Santana — and 70th (by 48 players) since the ballpark opened in 2001.

Palacios raised his eyebrows upon hearing that.

“I’m just finding out, but that’s pretty cool,” Palacios said. “Would have been better if we got the win, as well, but good swing.”

PALACIOS TO THE ALLEGHENY! pic.twitter.com/e8gnBDxHhf

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) August 25, 2023

Palacios’ sixth home run of the season was his second in four days, as the Pirates outfielder hit a 397-foot, three-run shot in the fourth inning of Monday’s 11-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. He had a career-best five RBIs in that game while playing against his younger brother, Cardinals outfielder Richie, for the first time in the majors.

The Pirates weren’t able to hang on for the win Thursday, losing to the Cubs, 5-4, in 10 innings.

Joshua Palacios is making a name with the Pirates by matching big moments with big energy. It started with his two-run, walk-off home run in the 10th inning of a 6-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on July 30, his 28th birthday.

“It is important. He does have some energy, and he gets after it a little bit,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “You want your guys to have fun, and Josh definitely has fun.”

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Palacios is showing more power, thanks to his fundamental work with the hitting coaches in the batting cage on his direction and bat path. Where he was going east to west before, Palacios said he is concentrating on staying toward the center of the field and letting his hands do the work.

Palacios provided two of the top three hardest-hit balls of the game against the Cubs, with an exit velocity of 109.6 mph when grounding into a double play in the eighth inning and 107.1 mph on the homer at a 40-degree launch angle.

“You’ve seen a lot of these balls really hard on the ground, and now we’re starting to get those same pitches in the air,” Palacios said. “The results are looking good. Just working on the consistency, be a little more consistent with it, put some more balls in play in the air and I think we’ll be looking good.”

Palacios is batting only .207 in 61 games but has been very effective in pinch-hit situations, batting .375 (6 for 16) with an .849 OPS. With rookie right fielder Henry Davis (right hand strain) on the 10-day injured list, Palacios is trying to take advantage of more consistent playing time.

“If you watch him take swings, it’s extremely aggressive,” Shelton said. “He creates a ton of torque with his lower half and gets the barrel out. He’s ready to hit every pitch. It’s why he’s been so successful as a pinch-hitter.”

And, despite the 21-foot Clemente Wall, the lefty-hitting Palacios is finding the short right field porch “very inviting.”

“It’s nice out there. I like how close it is,” Palacios said. “It’s a little high, but working on getting under the ball over there and it’s been working out.”