Pirates spoil Matt Gorski’s MLB debut with blown lead, loss to Angels

Matt Gorski's journey to the Major Leagues hasn't been a swift one; but in his first big league at-bat, he proved why he was worth the wait.

The 27-year-old outfielder and first baseman, who had spent parts of the last four seasons in Triple-A Indianapolis, received his first big league call-up from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday and wasted no time in showing how he can make an impact at the plate. In his first at-bat against the Los Angeles Angels, Gorski cranked a Tyler Anderson fastball 434 feet for a home run. With an exit velocity of 115.2 mph, it is tied with Jake Burger for the hardest-hit first home run in the Statcast era.

Gorski's homer was impressive, but not surprising. He was hitting .300 with seven doubles, three home runs and an .854 OPS over 70 at-bats in Triple-A to begin the season. He also led the Pirates with four home runs during spring training. It was only a matter of time before he got the call.

"I've been carrying a nice outfit in my travel bag for two and a half years,” Gorski told reporters at Angel Stadium Thursday before his Major League debut (via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com). “It's finally going to pay off for me."

Pirates spoil Matt Gorski’s MLB debut with blown lead, loss to Angels

Gorski's MLB debut should have been a night to remember, but it ended up resulting in a loss that the Pirates would like to forget.

Pittsburgh carried a 3-0 lead into the fourth inning, but converted reliever Carmen Mlodzinski began to struggle mightily in his second time through the Angels' order. A three-run inning for Los Angeles tied the game heading into the fifth.

The Pirates and Angels remained deadlocked at three runs apiece until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Angels shortstop Zach Neto hit a solo homer to left field off of Pirates right-hander Chase Shugart. The Pirates were unable to rally in the ninth, losing the game by a final score of 4-3 and missing their chance to complete the series sweep against the Angels.

As for Gorski, he finished the night 1-for-4, starting the game at first base before moving to left field in the eighth inning. He committed one error at first base, failing to field a grounder hit his way by Luis Rengifo. However, it was the Pirates' failure to come up with timely hitting in the ninth – a tale as old as time – that would be their ultimate undoing in the loss to the Angels.

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