The game was effectively over before Oakland had a chance to answer. Pittsburgh scored 3 runs in the first inning, added 2 more in the second, and by the time the Athletics managed a hit with runners on base, the deficit was already too deep. The Pirates finished with 12 runs on 16 hits, a thorough beating from first pitch to last.
Ryan O'Hearn was the engine of the Pittsburgh offense. He went 3-for-5 with a home run and 6 RBI, accounting for half the team's run production. His ground rule double in the first set the table, and his two-run homer to left in the fourth — 360 feet — pushed the lead to 7-0. In the seventh, his single to center scored two more. O'Hearn carries a .290 average with 11 home runs and 41 RBI on the season, and sits 5 away from 100 career home runs. Braxton Ashcraft handled the pitching side with equal efficiency. He worked 6.0 innings, allowing 2 runs — 1 earned — on 4 hits, walking 3 and striking out 7 on 93 pitches. He picked up his sixth win against three losses, with a 3.18 ERA.
Pittsburgh struck immediately. Horwitz scored on Reynolds' ground rule double in the first, and O'Hearn's double to left then brought home both Lowe and Reynolds to make it 3-0. The Pirates kept coming in the second: Triolo scored on a Lowe single, and Horwitz scored on a Reynolds single to push the lead to 5-0. The fourth inning brought O'Hearn's homer, a two-run shot that made it 7-0. Oakland finally got on the board in the sixth when Wilson's single to center scored Kurtz and Langeliers, but the Pirates answered in the seventh with 5 runs — capped by O'Hearn's two-run single — to put the game away at 12-2. Henry Bolte homered to center in the bottom of the seventh for Oakland, and Zack Gelof added a solo shot to left in the ninth, but the margin was never in doubt.
Aaron Civale absorbed the loss, falling to 5-3. He lasted just 3.0 innings, allowing 6 runs on 9 hits with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts on 71 pitches. His ERA stands at 4.91. Oakland managed only 6 hits on the night and could not sustain any offensive momentum against Ashcraft and the Pittsburgh bullpen.
Pittsburgh moved to 37-37 with the win, snapping a one-game losing streak. Oakland fell to 36-37. Brandon Lowe, who drove in 2 runs for the Pirates, is now 5 away from 500 career RBI. Aaron Civale, despite the rough outing, is 2 wins away from 50 career victories.