The Pirates were 29th best prospect. Ohtani had the best ERA in baseball. Neither mattered.
Tyler Callihan stepped into the box at PNC Park on June 10 with something to prove — and against the most dominant pitcher on the planet, he delivered the game of his life.
First Two Career Homers. Same Game.
Callihan became the first Pirates player to hit his first two career homers in the same game since Ryan Doumit (July 19, 2005 vs. Houston). He's just the 13th Pirate ever to do it — Doggie Miller was the first, all the way back in 1886.
Shohei Ohtani came in with a 0.74 ERA — the best in baseball. He left 6.2 innings later with his ERA at 1.06, having surrendered six hits and season highs in runs and earned runs. The Dodgers led 6-3 when he exited. A fifth straight win seemed like a formality.
Then Callihan happened.
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Spencer Horwitz added a two-run shot later in the 8th off Jack Dreyer, stretching the Pirates' lead to 9-6. Brandon Lowe's two-out two-run double in the 7th had already chased Ohtani from the game.
The comeback win was just Pittsburgh's third this season when trailing after seven innings. It ended a four-game losing streak and kept them in the thick of the NL Central race.
Callihan took a curtain call on the dugout steps. He'd earned it.
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