After a disastrous four-game sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Pirates found themselves staring up from the bottom of the NL Central with a .500 record and plenty of frustration. But if there's one thing baseball teaches us, it's that momentum can shift as quickly as a well-placed fastball.

And shift it did. The Pirates opened a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds with a commanding 9-1 victory on Friday night, then followed it up with an absolute offensive explosion on Saturday, crushing the Reds 17-7 to clinch the series win. It was the kind of performance that reminds fans why they love this game—and why they wear their team's gear with pride.

"Yeah, we won, so it was fun," said Ryan O'Hearn after Saturday's game. "Sometimes they get out of hand a little bit, but it's fun to put a bunch of points on the board. Had a good offensive day."

Understatement of the year. The Pirates' 17 runs marked a season high, while their 19 hits were the most they've tallied in any game this season. But the most remarkable stat of the night? Pittsburgh drew 11 walks, including seven in a row during the third inning—a feat that tied a Major League Baseball record. Only two other teams in MLB history have managed seven consecutive free passes.

"It was staying in the middle of the plate, being really stingy with what we were looking for," manager Don Kelly explained. "When we get in trouble, we try to do too much and go on the edges. I thought we did a real good job, especially in that inning, of shrinking the zone and making them throw it over the middle."

The Pirates scored five runs in the third inning, one of three frames where they touched home plate five times. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, Pittsburgh answered with five hits and five runs in the bottom of the inning. They followed that up with another five-run fourth, sending 10 batters to the plate.

For context, the Pirates have only scored five-plus runs in three separate innings of the same game four other times in franchise history. This was a performance for the ages—and a reminder that when the bats get hot, there's no better feeling than being part of the crowd.