On the wall of the visitor's clubhouse at Angel Stadium there is a display of baseballs for players who have made their major-league debuts at the ballpark since 2020. It contains names like Keibert Ruiz, Richie Palacios,Yanier Diaz and others. Soon enough, Matt Gorski will join that group. 

The 27-year-old left a lasting impression Thursday night despite the Pirates' 4-3 loss, as he he battled through six pitches from Tyler Anderson before doing this with the seventh in his first major-league at-bat:

Oneil Cruz has been known to light up the Statcast numbers through the early parts of his career, and did so again on this night with his third leadoff home run, but Gorski's solo shot had the same feel, sound and impact. It carried 434 feet and had an exit velocity of 115.2 mph. 

It left the ballpark in a hurry.

"That's pretty cool," Gorski said about what he felt after hitting the home run and becoming the first Pirate do so in their first-major league at-bat since Starling Marte in 2012. "I got to the dugout and kind of blacked out a little bit. They did the ol' silent treatment on me, which was funny."

It didn't come easily however. Anderson entered tonight's contest with a 2.08 ERA and had limited opposing hitters to a .149 batting average through his first four starts. He challenged Gorski early in the at-bat with a changeup down and away before getting the tall right-hander to chase on a high fastball.

Facing an 0-2 count, Gorski fouled off a changeup, watched a fastball for the first ball and then fouled off another changeup outside the zone. Anderson came back with another changeup in the dirt that Gorski didn't bite on before trying to climb the ladder again. 

This time, it didn't work.

"The approach was stay on the heater, always," Gorski, who went 1-for-4, said. "The changeup is really slow and kind of floats up there. I fought some good pitches off and I got the one I was looking for."

Did he ever. 

It was a fitting arrival for the 6-foot-2, 220-pounder who has displayed enormous power as he's climbed the Pirates' organization through the first five years of his professional career. And, at each of those levels, outside of his debut with Class AAA Indianapolis in 2022, Gorski had hit a home run in his first at-bat.

"That's something that I'm going to take home, I guess," Gorski said. "That's how I've started other levels before, so it was cool to start the major-league level like that."

While some may struggle to get their first home run ball back, the Pirates bullpen pitched in on this occasion. They autographed a ball and traded it with the fan that caught Gorski's home run. 

The ball was sitting at the top of his locker in the clubhouse tonight for safe keeping. He said it might be on his nightstand for a while before he decides what to do with it.

For the last two and a half years, Gorski had been carrying around a nice pair of clothes when he went on road trips in the minors so he could be ready if the call ever came. Those clothes have changed over time, depending on where the Pirates are located. On this occasion, it was a blue polka dot golf shirt with a pair of light jeans, "a little California vibe," Gorski said. 

So, when Indianapolis manager Chris Truby delivered the news to him yesterday, he was ready. 

"It's finally going to pay off for me," Gorski said.

When speaking before the game, Gorski said his arrival at the major-league level hadn't really sunk in yet. He didn't know when it would. But, as the Pirates prepared to take the field and a few different concert bands from schools in the area lined the warning track to play the National Anthem, Gorski said it finally hit him.

"That was probably the moment when I realized that, it's real."

And he proved why.