The Pirates kicked off their Luau Weekend by kicking the stuffing out of the Mets by a score of 14-2 in the first of a four-game series at PNC Park on Friday night.

The second sell-out crowd of the 2024 campaign was on hand to witness Pittsburgh’s roasting of the Metroplitans that included 16 hits and seven home runs. The seven slams tied a franchise record for most in a game and included two actual grand slams–one by Bryan Reynolds and one by Rowdy Tellez. While the Buccos have hit seven home runs in a game on multiple occasions throughout their long history, the last time they did it at home was in 1947–or 12 years before Hawaii became America’s 50th state.

Rookie pitcher Paul Skenes said, “Mahalo, bruddah,” and rode the sick wave of offense to his fifth victory. Skenes pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out eight. He’s now 5-0 (Book’em, Danno) on the season and has an ERA of 2.12.

Actually, the Pirates were only ahead by a score of 4-2 after Skenes exited the game. Pittsburgh scored 10 runs over the final two innings–including a grand slam by Reynolds in the seventh and one by Tellez in the eighth–to turn it into a blowout.

Jack Suwinski, Yasmani Grandal and Michael A. Taylor, who went four-for-four on five pitches, all homered in the game. Reynolds and Tellez also each went yard earlier in the evening to account for all seven taters.

The Pirates did make history on Friday but not by hitting seven home runs in a game (you can’t make history if you’re tying it).

Reynolds and Tellez became the first pair of teammates in MLB history to each hit two home runs in the same game with one of them being a grand slam.

For Reynolds, his performance on Friday showed that he isn’t ready to cool down, even after his 25-game hitting streak came to an end against the Braves last Sunday. He has nine home runs and 24 RBI over his last 30 games. For the season, Reynolds is now batting .280 with 16 home runs and 54 RBI.

Speaking of red-hot, Tellez, a man who looks like he was born to wear a Hawaiian shirt and sip a Mai Tai as he lounges on a beach, remains one of the hottest hitters in baseball over the past month. Tellez was hitting below .200 entering June, and the fans and media were eager to say, “Aloha!” (the goodbye version). But after Friday night’s performance, the veteran first baseman is now batting .348 over the past 20 games with six home runs and 16 RBI. He has an on-base percentage of .392 and an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 1.059.

For the season, Tellez has now upped his average to .244 with seven home runs and 28 RBI.

Friday night’s run splurge was a welcome sight for an offense that has been one of the worst in baseball over the first half of the 2024 campaign.

The Pirates remain four games out of the final wildcard spot in the National League but are now one-half game behind New York in the standings.

The Buccos will look to continue their island ways by beating up on the Mets some more over the final three games of the weekend series that ends on Monday afternoon.