PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - On his 20th birthday, Konnor Griffin hit his first major league home run and went 3/4 with the bat in the Pirates 6-0 win against Milwaukee Friday night.
Griffin took Brandon Woodruff deep in the top of the third inning for his first career homer. In the top of the 8th he came up with the bases loaded and lined a 2-run single to center field.
"Been working super hard behind closed doors to continue to produce. It was fun running around the bases for the first time," said Griffin on the Pirates Reaction show to Dan Zangrilli.
Griffin has brought his average up to .214 with 11 runs batted in.
"I'm just trying to stack good days and be able to do damage when runners are in scoring position. That's the name of the game, to be able to come through tonight, that was awesome," said Grffin.
"It's definitely been an adjustment for me but you know I feel like I can handle it. Over the past few weeks I've seen some really good things out of my game and I'm also watching video and saying 'alright we gotta make a change here.' Sometimes it takes putting yourself in an uncomfortable spot to make a change. Doing it at the highest level you gotta be pretty brave to do that and then go out there and try to compete. There's a lot of moving parts but my goal is just to take the game one pitch at a time, trust my preparation, trust the work I'm putting in and it'll show up when I step on the field.
Paul Skenes flirts with perfection
Griffin’s performance wasn’t the only story in this game. Paul Skenes dominated the Brewers through 7 innings. He was flirting with a perfect game with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th when Jake Bauers singled to end the perfect game opportunity. Skenes finished the night pitching 7 innings, allowing just 1 hit and struck out 7 batters. He has brought his season ERA down to 2.48 and improved to 4-1.
Up Next
The Pirates continue their series with the Brewers on Saturday. Mitch Keller (2-1 2.79) faces Jacob Misiorowski (1-2, 3.04) at 7:10. Pregame coverage on 93.7 The Fan begins at 6:15.
Paul Skenes was perfect through 6 and 2/3 innings pitched
Paul Skenes was perfect through 6 and 2/3 innings pitched
