When Michael Perez saw the pitch in his sweet spot, he hit it so flush that the Milwaukee Brewers fielders didn’t even bother to turn their heads to see if it cleared the fence.
There was never a doubt.
“I put a good swing on it,” Perez said. “All I saw in the dugout when I rounded third base was everybody smiling.”
Pirates catcher Michael Perez discusses the first three-homer game of his career. pic.twitter.com/iPfIA04ish
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) July 1, 2022
Nobody was happier for Perez than two of his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates. Outfielders Jack Suwinski and Bryan Reynolds welcomed Perez into an exclusive club after his three-homer game in the 8-7 win over the Brewers on Thursday night at PNC Park.
Together, they made major league history by becoming the first three players on the same team to hit three home runs in a game in the same month. Only the Atlanta Braves had three three-homer games in one month before (September 2020), but Adam Duvall accounted for two while Marcell Ozuna had the other.
“It’s super special. It’s rare and I’m super happy for those guys,” Suwinski said. “I don’t think we’re going to walk around like a little club, but I think we’re just all happy to help the team. If that’s hitting three homers in the same month, then we’re really happy for each other.”
Pirates OF Jack Suwinski talks about Michael Perez’s three-homer game and making MLB history together. pic.twitter.com/wz82Xrozkm
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) July 1, 2022
Perez is the 23rd player in Pirates history — and first catcher — to homer three times in a game. Reynolds wore a wry smile when asked about his plans to welcome Perez to the three-homer-in-a-game club.
“Yeah, we’ll initiate him later,” Reynolds deadpanned. “It’s pretty cool. Generally, if that happens, when you do something that’s never been done it’s really good — unless you do something really bad.”
For Perez, it was a banner night. He entered hitting .129 in 29 games but went 4 for 4 with five RBIs — the first four-hit game of his career. Perez became the first Pirates catcher with two or more home runs in a single game since Russell Martin hit two at the Chicago Cubs on April 9, 2014.
Suwinski was the first of the trio to hit three homers in a game, as his walk-off blast capped a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on June 19 at PNC Park. Suwinski leads all major league rookies with 13 homers, including a solo shot in the first inning against the Brewers, and finished with eight in June alone.
Perez accomplished the feat just a day after Reynolds homered three times in an 8-7 win at the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. Only once before had teammates hit three homers in back-to-back games, when Atlanta’s Ozuna and Duvall did so Sept. 1-2, 2020.
Like Suwinski and Reynolds, Perez homered off three different pitchers.
“It’s cool. I like watching my friends hit homers. To see him hit homers is fun,” Reynolds said. “He was swinging and putting the barrel on everything. They gave him a pitch he could do it with and he didn’t miss it.”
Pirates manager Derek Shelton wasn’t surprised that all three of the lefty-hitting Perez’s homers were to right field. The first had an exit velocity of 98.5 mph, per Statcast, while the others registered 103 and 103.3. The three homers traveled a combined 1,176 feet.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton reacts to the three-home run game by catcher Michael Perez in the 8-7 win over the Brewers. pic.twitter.com/1puYkdPNBR
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) July 1, 2022
“He has the ability to drive the baseball, especially on the pull side,” Shelton said. “He hits the ball hard. It’s just making sure that he’s on time to get there, and tonight, he was on time.”
Perez sent his first homer 377 feet to drive in Suwinski in the fourth inning and give the Pirates a 5-3 lead. The second was another two-run blast that sailed 391 feet and bounced off the fence at the top of the right field seats for a 7-4 lead in the sixth. The third was a 408-foot solo shot at a 103.3-mph exit velocity for an 8-4 lead in the eighth.
“That was something else. He was super-locked in and really crushing it,” said Suwinski, who added that Pirates players teased Perez in the dugout about doing it again. “Part of it is a joke but part of it is it would be really funny if it happens, like, ‘All right, go and hit another one.’ It’s not that easy. I wish it was. You’ve already hit two homers. That’s a heck of a day. Like, ‘Hey, go hit another one’ in that serious/joking, that-would-be-awesome kind of way.”
