Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates often struggled to provide run support for their eventual National League Cy Young winner, Paul Skenes. This year, the story is dramatically different, and Monday night’s explosive victory over the Washington Nationals perfectly illustrates the turnaround.

In a stunning display of offensive firepower, the Pirates (10-6) erupted for 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, sending 13 batters to the plate and cruising to a dominant 16-5 win over the Nationals (7-9).

Paul Skenes, who delivered another stellar start by allowing just one run on one hit over six innings, could only watch and laugh as his offense put the game out of reach. "That long inning cost me going back out there," Skenes joked postgame. "It took forever, which is what you want. It was cool to watch everybody just pulling the rope and passing it off to the next guy."

The historic inning was a true team effort, sparked by a single and stolen base from nine-hole hitter Henry Davis. The floodgates opened from there: a Bryan Reynolds bases-clearing triple, a Ryan O’Hearn double, and timely hits from Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz kept the line moving. The contagious energy in the dugout was palpable.

"Hitting’s contagious," said second baseman Brandon Lowe. "When multiple guys are going well, everybody is itching to get up there and ready to go."

Lowe provided the exclamation point, launching a three-run homer in his second at-bat of the inning. The blast capped his five-RBI night and gave him 10 RBIs over his last two games, showcasing the kind of relentless, inning-extending offense that defines winning baseball. For a team looking to make noise in the NL Central, this explosive performance is a powerful statement of intent.