Skenes, Pirates embrace electric atmosphere at packed PNC Park

As Paul Skenes made his walk to the bullpen to take part in his pregame warmup routines Friday evening, he could sense a different type of buzz in the North Shore air. Fans have often flocked to PNC Park to watch one of Major League Baseball's must-see attractions perform in person, but this was different. 

"It was probably because of the free (hats) they were giving away," Skenes, grinning from ear to ear, joked Friday night. "We got to do that every day.”

A sellout crowd of 37,037 fans eventually settled into their seats to provide the buzz Skenes had referenced and, whether free bucket hats had anything to do with it or not, the atmosphere was special on a night in which the Pirates put together one of their most complete performances of the season. They matched a franchise record with seven home runs, generated 16 hits and relied on seven strong innings from Skenes to capture a 14-2 mauling of the Mets. 

It was the second sellout of the season -- the first since the home opener April 5 against the Orioles -- and while it was a few thousand off from the 40,487 who were in attendance for the magical National League Wild Card game in 2013, there were similarities between this particular environment and those of the 2013-15 playoff teams, as Skenes learned. 

"I was talking to one of our trainers today who has been here since those days when we were in the postseason and he said, 'This is what it's like in the postseason,' " Skenes explained to me. "We just have to keep playing well, keep executing, take it one game at a time and we're going to be in a position where we can experience this and really experience it in a postseason series and that kind of thing. It's a cool opportunity." 

Skenes has only pitched 58 1/3 innings over the course of his young major-league career, but he knows what pitching in front of a true baseball-loving crowd looks like. It was just last year when he was blowing by hitters at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge before performing in front of over 24,000 people at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. 

"Playing in those games is really cool," Skenes said. "Full stadiums are just awesome to play in front of. It was definitely a different energy today and it showed in the game as well." 

A team that has struggled to maintain much consistency with a 42-45 record, the Pirates have played in front of smaller crowds throughout the year, as they rank 24th in all of baseball in average attendance (20,698), according to Baseball Reference. Still, Friday's environment put Pittsburgh's baseball-loving fan base on display while also giving the Pirates even more motivation to perform at their best. 

It all started with Skenes, who looked unfazed by some early adversity and stayed composed while pitching in front of the roaring crowd, allowing just two runs on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts through his seven effective innings: 

It took a few innings, but the offense followed suit behind the bats of Bryan Reynolds and Rowdy Tellez. Each belted a pair of home runs, including grand slams in back-to-back innings, and combined to drive in 11 runs. Reynolds' first homer -- a two-run shot in the fifth inning -- gave the Pirates a lead they wouldn't relinquish, as they scored 14 unanswered runs to erase an early 2-0 deficit. 

"It was rocking," Reynolds said of the crowd. "They were locked in from the beginning and got super loud when they needed to. We definitely fed off it, for sure.”

A trio of slumping players awakened in front of the PNC faithful, too, as Jack Suwinski, Michael A. Taylor and Yasmani Grandal each added long balls to help account for the seven total homers that tied a franchise record for most in a single game. Grandal had two hits in the win, while Taylor went a perfect 4 for 4 to finish off his first multi-hit performance since May 11. 

"You could feel the energy in the ballpark tonight. They were into it," Derek Shelton said. "Even late in the game when it was 14-2 they were still up on their feet. You get a situation like that sometimes where crowds will leave and they were all here and cheering, and I thought that was really cool."

While the Pirates haven't had the success that would warrant atmospheres like the one on this night, there is still hope for a team that sits four games behind the Padres for the final wild card spot in the National League. Yes, the offense needs to be more consistent and, yes, perhaps external assets might be necessary to help the group turn the page and gain separation in that tight wild card race. One night doesn't change that. 

Yet, as Skenes alluded to me, there is a collective hunger for this club and these players to play meaningful baseball games in front of packed crowds at PNC Park. And there is internal optimism that those games can include positive results similar to this particular 12-run victory in front of 37,037.

"I've been super fortunate to play in front of some big crowds, and players, especially the home guys, feed off that sort of stuff," Tellez said. "When you can put up runs like that, play like that, pitch like that, one through nine, I think it's huge. The fans definitely had our back, and that was awesome. That was fun to be a part of."