Spencer Horwitz has never hit more than 16 home runs during a season in his six-year professional career. The power doesn't resemble that of your typical first baseman, but that doesn't mean it's non-existent: 

That's Horwitz hitting his first home run as a member of the Pirates in their 8-5 loss to the Brewers tonight at PNC Park. It was a solo shot -- his first since Sept. 8, 2024 -- to right-center field that Horwitz seemed to know was gone right off the bat.

“It was a big homer, a really good swing," Joey Bart said. "He looks great. It’s obviously great having him. He’s very prepared. It’s a good guy to bounce ideas off of and talk to about hitting.”

Home runs aren't an integral part of Horwitz's game. His value comes in grinding out at-bats, finding ways to get on base and finding gaps for extra-base hits. Still, it's always a plus when a returning player can provide some type of jolt to an offense that has performed as poorly as this one. 

The homer was a part of another two-hit game for Horwitz, who has now registered two performances of that variety in the six games he's played since being activated from the injured list. Horwitz also had two hits Tuesday night against the Reds and, on this night, drove in his first two runs as a member of the Pirates.

Don Kelly said he thinks Horwitz has delivered good at-bats and has managed to square balls up during a small sample of games in which he's collected five hits in 18 at-bats, drawn two walks and struck out three times. 

"Obviously the home run today was impressive," Kelly said. "Having really good at-bats. He hit the double-play the other day that was a rocket right at the second baseman. He continues to have at-bats like that. He's a really good hitter and we've seen what he can do on defense as well."

• Mike Burrows couldn't keep the ball in the yard through the first two innings of his first major-league start tonight. But, after allowing a three-run home run to Christian Yelich in the first inning and a solo homer to Joey Ortiz in the second, Burrows settled in to throw three scoreless to finish out his outing. He surrendered just one hit in those final three innings. 

The biggest thing Burrows said he could take away from this outing is the importance of not getting behind hitters. He wasn't able to get ahead of a few hitters early on and found himself in some deep counts, too. In those final three innings, he was able to attack the zone more and be more effective as a result. 

"Getting strike one and going from there. I think that’s the biggest thing, staying ahead of these guys," Burrows said. "Trying to roll through innings as quick as possible, be efficient and get the guys back up at the plate.”

• The Pirates and Brewers nearly made it through six full innings before heavy rain caused a nearly two-hour-long rain delay. The Pirates trailed 5-3 before the delay. Afterwards, the Brewers added some insurance by scoring three runs on three hits and a walk against Chase Shugart. Isaac Collins and Sal Frelick delivered the big blows with an RBI single and a two-run single, respectively. 

• Kelly said it can be tough on a bullpen after a lengthy rain delay like that. Ryan Borucki allowed two hits in a scoreless inning and needed a rare 2-6 double play to get out of the inning. Joey Wentz also tossed a clean ninth. 

"Not knowing when it's going to stop and then we go out and it's still raining. Grounds crew did a great job of getting the field in playable condition, because as you saw, it rained pretty good and it was still coming down," Kelly said. "It looked pretty wet, but underneath, it was still pretty solid."