Tyler Callihan’s first two MLB homers, including one off Shohei Ohtani, lift Pirates in late rally

PITTSBURGH, June 10, 2026, the Pirates found a familiar kind of power surge at PNC Park, and it came from Tyler Callihan. Making a pivotal impact in the late stages of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Callihan delivered the kind of two-part statement that changes how a crowd feels and how a pitching staff manages the next at-bat.

The night began with something that will be retold for a while in Pittsburgh. Callihan hit his first MLB home run off Shohei Ohtani, and the shot did not simply leave the park. It bounced into the Allegheny River, a landing that underscored both the raw force of the swing and the unusual nature of his major-league debut moment. The detail was central to the way the win was framed by MLB’s game report, because home runs off a caliber of pitcher like Ohtani are rare on any night.

By the time the Pirates reached the bottom of the eighth inning, Callihan was already carrying momentum. The game report highlighted his at-bat there as “pivotal,” describing his second major-league home run as the final lift in Pittsburgh’s comeback. The second blast, coming after an earlier highlight reel moment against Ohtani, effectively turned the matchup from a start-of-the-game storyline into a late-night exclamation point.

Pittsburgh’s approach in the late innings matters as much as the contact itself. Once games reach the final outs, every at-bat becomes more specific, with managers tightening leverage decisions and pitchers relying more heavily on execution than variety. Callihan’s ability to deliver twice, and to do it once against a top-tier opponent and then again to push a rally forward, gives the Pirates a clean reminder that big moments are often produced by repeatable swings under pressure.

For Callihan personally, the sequencing is also notable. A player who is hitting his first major-league homer is often still learning the pace and feel of MLB at-bats. Getting a second home run soon after, and doing it in the eighth inning when the game is most sensitive to momentum, suggests the Pirates did not stumble into a one-off highlight but instead found an early spark they can build around.

What to watch next is whether the Pirates can keep turning that late-inning leverage into consistent run production, and whether Callihan can maintain the same level of impact when opposing teams adjust their scouting and pitch selection. The immediate takeaway, though, is straightforward: in a matchup that included Shohei Ohtani, Pittsburgh got two home runs from one player, and the timing of the second one did the most to decide the outcome.

The game report confirms the key arc of the night, but details like final scoring margins and surrounding inning-by-inning changes are not provided in the material available here. Still, the core facts are clear enough to stand: Callihan homered first off Ohtani, then later struck again to propel a late Pirates rally and secure the win over the Dodgers.