PITTSBURGH _ Talk about announcing your presence with authority, goodness gracious.
After scoring 17 runs with the help of just one solo home run Friday night, the Tigers took a more violent tact Saturday. And veteran left-hander Derek Holland hardly knew what hit him.
Niko Goodrum hit the second pitch of the game into the left-field seats. After a well-struck single by Jonathan Schoop, Miguel Cabrera, C.J. Cron and Jeimer Candelario followed with home runs, each one louder and longer than the last.
When the smoke cleared, the Tigers were up 5-0 and on their way to an 11-5 win against the Pirates, their second straight at PNC Park.
Some fun facts:
_ It was the first time in club history the Tigers hit four home runs before an out was recorded. It hadn't happened across baseball since the Royals did it in 2018, per Elias Sport Bureau.
_ It was the first time since 1974 that the Tigers hit four home runs in the first inning _ Al Kaline, Bill Freehan, Mickey Stanley and Eddie Brinkman did the honors back then.
_ It was the first time since 2013 that they hit four in any single inning _ Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, Alex Avila and Cabrera.
And here's the tale of the tape on the four dingers, in terms of exit velocity and distance _ it felt like a home run crescendo:
Goodrum _ 99.6 mph, 375 feet.
Cabrera _ 93 mph, 351 feet.
Cron _ 101.6 mph, 404 feet.
Candelario _ 105.1 mph, 437 feet.
Eleven of the first 14 balls the Tigers put in play against Holland left the bat at 95 mph or better. But after a two-out RBI single by Travis Demeritte in the second inning, he settled in and kept the Tigers off the board through five innings.
Meanwhile, the Pirates were steadfastly climbing back into the game against Tigers' starter Ivan Nova. They scored twice in the third inning on an RBI double by Kevin Newman (three hits) and ground out by Josh Bell.
Nova put himself in the soup in the fourth inning, walking the first two batters. Both would score. Jarrod Dyson singled in one and with runners at second and third and two outs, Newman reached out on a 1-2 breaking ball and dunked it into left field _ a three-run inning and suddenly a tight, 6-5 game.
Didn't stay tight for long.
After using seven relievers Friday night, the Pirates needed Holland to pitch as deep in the game as possible, but in retrospect, they might've cut their losses after five innings.
JaCoby Jones led off the sixth with his fourth home run of the season _ a 430-foot shot to center field that bounced clear out of the stadium. Goodrum and Schoop then followed with back-to-back doubles. Goodrum, who went hitless in six games leading into this series, produced three doubles and a home run in his last seven at-bats.
Candelario, who has six hits in these two games, singled in the fourth run of the inning to re-establish the five-run lead.
The Tigers' third run of the inning came after a frightening collision down the right-field line between Pirates right fielder Jorge Polanco and first baseman Phillip Evans. Both men weigh more than 200 pounds and they were chasing a foul pop fly by Cabrera.
Polanco caught the ball, but his elbow struck Evans in the side of the head. Evans appeared to be knocked out cold and lay motionless for several seconds.
Meanwhile, Schoop tagged at second and came around to score. It was Cabrera's third RBI of the game, giving him 1,701 for his career, passing Jim Thome into 24th on the all-time RBI list. His home run in the first was No. 481.
Evans, who was moving his extremities, was eventually carted off the field and taken to a nearby hospital for tests.
The Tigers (7-5) ended up batting around for the second time in the game, and for the fourth time in the last two days. They followed up their 16-hit attack Friday with another 16 hits. Schoop, Cabrera and Candelario had three hits each and Cron contributed a home run, double and two RBIs.
The Tigers, though, did not get a hit off back-up catcher John Ryan Murphy, who pitched a clean ninth inning. Go figure.
