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Davis’ home run was his ninth of the season. He hit a solo shot off Walbert Ureña in the third inning, which was the only run scored in the Pirates’ 1-0 victory. Davis’ home run was his first since July 12 against the Brewers, a span of 26 games. He’s hitting .169 with a .570 OPS and 35 RBI.

Davis was thrown out at home in the third inning while trying to score on a sacrifice fly, but he made up for it in the fifth inning when he singled to drive home Marcell Ozuna to give the Pirates their first run of the night. Davis was one of three hitters to tally two hits in this one and he has now hit safely in four of his last six games.

Davis helped to break the game open with a 364-foot (95.6-mph EV) two-run shot off of Robert Gasser in the second inning that went just over the outstretched glove of Jackson Chourio to increase the Pirates’ lead to 4-0. He also delivered an RBI single during the Bucs’ 10-run uprising in the fourth inning and scored as Bryan Reynolds was plunked with the bases loaded. With his two-hit attack, the 26-year-old backstop is now slashing .166/.267/.344 with eight homers and 27 RBI on the season.

The steal was a nice piece of work. Jake Mangum was looking to bunt him to third after his double leading off the eighth, and since that drew third baseman JP Crawford way off the bag, Davis just took the base without the bunt. Davis’s homer off Bryce Miller was his sixth of the year. He’s still batting just .148/.247/.319, and while the Pirates did show a certain level of commitment to him when they traded Joey Bart to the Braves last week, they clearly prefer Endy Rodríguez as their primary catcher right now.

Davis returns to Pittsburgh’s catching mix after a three-game stint away from the club on paternity leave. The 26-year-old former first-overall pick has hit an underwhelming .138/.241/.285 with five homers, 17 RBI and one steal across 142 plate appearances over 45 games this season.

Davis will be away from the club for a couple days on paternity leave with Endy Rodríguez handling the bulk of the catching responsibilities.

Incredibly, the slam is just Davis’s second ever extra-base hit with RISP; he was a lifetime .105/.185/.121 hitter with 220 plate appearances in those situations. Tonight, though, he managed to sock a 91.0-mph fastball (Arrighetti’s slowest of the game) 389 feet to left for a no-doubter over the Crawford Boxes. Davis struck out in his other three at-bats tonight before being removed for a pinch-hitter in the ninth. He’s at .143/.239/.294 for the season.

Davis’s fourth homer was a 413-footer to left in his third at-bat of the day. He previously struck out on three pitches and popped up a bunt attempt with no one on base for an out. Davis is hitting just .144/.246/.288 through 119 plate appearances. He has 15 hits in 104 at-bats, which as it happens, is also where he finished at in 2024.

As a team, the Pirates were only able to muster four hits in the contest, so the fault wasn’t all on Davis in this one. He is having an abysmal season at the plate though, slashing a cringe-inducing .141/.248/.239 with two homers and eight RBI in 106 plate appearances.

The Pirates jumped all over Reds starter Brady Singer and Davis was right in the middle of the action. He walked to lead-off the third inning which helped start a two-run rally and then blasted a 415 foot home run that nearly chased Singer from the game. He added his second homer in the fifth to push the lead out to 8-0 and the rout was on. It has not been a great start to the season at the plate for Davis, but he’s proven to be a strong option defensively and still has that great raw power.

The Pirates were hoping for contact with one out and the automatic runner on in the 11th, so they sent up Bart, even though he was just 2-for-14 with seven strikeouts this year. And he struck out. Davis has nine starts to Bart’s five this year as the Pirates wait and hope that one of their catchers will eventually heat up. Davis is hitting .194/.286/.290 in 35 plate appearances.