Gamel goes off on 2-homer, 6-RBI night

In the Pirates’ series opener against the Braves, Ben Gamel was locked in at the plate and delivered his second career multihomer game to lead the Bucs to a 11-1 victory at PNC Park on Monday night.

“I don't think we missed our pitches. I think the scoreboard reflects that,” said Gamel. “I think if you go through the at-bats all night long, that reflects that, too. We didn't miss the fastball tonight and didn't miss the breaking ball tonight, and we're just finding barrels.”

Following his pinch-hit walk-off single against the Marlins on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta, Braves left-hander Max Fried brought that same intensity to the mound through the first three innings. However, in the bottom of the fourth, John Nogowski worked a walk, then Gamel smashed a 421-foot homer just below the Pirates' logo in the center-field bushes to give the Bucs a one-run lead.

The moonshot was Gamel’s fifth home run of the season, accounting for the first two of his career-high six RBIs.

“I was really happy with Gamel's night," said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. "I mean, two home runs to dead center, that was impressive."

Pirates right-hander Chase De Jong had dropped his last three starts. Over that stretch, De Jong posted a 6.59 ERA with an opponents’ batting average of .339.

“Just being able to make that adjustment and navigate through those four innings, that was huge and huge credit to [Jacob] Stallings for sticking with me,” said De Jong. “After the first, it did not look good. I'll be the first person to tell you that, and I was not efficient. I wasn't around the zone, but we were able to hone it and make those adjustments.”

In the top of the first inning, the Braves jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on just the sixth pitch of the game, with Freddie Freeman's double bringing in Ronald Acuña Jr. However, De Jong stayed poised on the mound, allowing one run on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts over his five innings.

The victory marked De Jong’s first win since Sept. 28, 2018, while he was a member of the Twins.

“I'm really happy for Chase. I mean, it's a long way back,” said Shelton. “This is a guy that rebuilt himself, went to [independent league] baseball, made it back to the big leagues. For him to get a win, especially [after] that first inning, to be able to get us through five and get through the fifth, that was outstanding. Really happy for him.”

“I'm pretty emotional right now,” said De Jong. “Two different independent ball stints, multiple organizations, up and down. Just fighting, grinding for all this and three years between Major League wins for me. It's a pretty special night. It's really special for me to have my boy in the stands, my wife is in the stands. This is a really special night.”

In the bottom of the seventh, Gamel stepped back to the plate with two runners on and hit his second home run of the night to straightaway center field to give the Bucs an eight-run lead. Ke’Bryan Hayes tagged a two-run opposite-field blast in the eighth to increase Pittsburgh’s advantage to 10.

“It's a good feeling when you get a knock, and then all of a sudden, we see [Hayes] drive a ball to right field,” said Shelton. “We haven't seen that in a while. I think from last year, that's his bread and butter.”

Hayes was in a slump, going 1-for-22 over his last seven games, but he broke out with two hits and two RBIs.

The Bucs have been looking for some consistency from the plate and had several players step up. In his first game in a Pirates uniform, Nogowski went 2-for-4 with three runs, one walk and one RBI.

“That was kind of the start that we were hoping for, and it's a long season. It's one game but definitely something to build off of. Definitely worked out tonight,” said Nogowski. “From getting called up, getting sent down, getting DFA’d and traded, and sometimes it's rougher on [my family] than it is on me. So to have my parents and my girlfriend here, it's just so incredible.”

After De Jong was replaced in the sixth, the Pirates entrusted their bullpen to bring home the win. Clay Holmes, Sam Howard and Kyle Crick fanned five over three scoreless innings and held the Braves to just two hits. Kyle Keller replaced Crick in the ninth and struck out the side to seal the victory.