CINCINNATI -- It was fitting that Garrett Jones, the only legit big bopper in the Pirates' lineup, would swat the 10,000th home run in the history of the franchise.
Wednesday afternoon, Jones launched an 0-1 pitch from the Cincinnati Reds' aptly-named right-hander, Homer Bailey. The ball traveled 375 feet before crash-landing in the right-field seats. "It's a big number," said Jones, who Tuesday hit the Pirates' 9,999th homer. "It's a tremendous honor. It feels good to get it, but it would feel a lot better if we'd gotten the win."
The Pirates lost the game, 5-3.
Jones, a 28-year-old rookie, has gone deep 18 times in 55 games since his June 30 call-up from Triple-A Indianapolis.
"He's had a great couple months, and I'm looking forward to the future with him," manager John Russell said. "He's got tremendous power to all fields. I saw it in the minor leagues and again in spring training. He's a definite threat."
The Pirates agreed to swap an autographed bat and ball with the Reds fan who caught Jones' home run.
"For the organization, it's something that means a lot," Jones said.
Three innings after Jones homered, Brandon Moss knocked out his seventh homer of the season.
"Aw ... I was that close," Moss said, grinning.
Although Moss put the Pirates on the path to their next milestone, nobody will remember who hit No. 10,001. Moss joked that he was going to pore through old boxscores until he found a home run that was overruled.
"I'm going to look for a foul ball home run," Moss said.
The Pirates are the 14th franchise to reach 10,000 homers.
The list of Pirates who hit landmark homers along the way to 10,000 includes Hall of Famers Al Lopez, Ralph Kiner and Bill Mazeroski. It also features five guys -- Fred Carroll (14 National League homers), Reb Russell (22), Ed Ott (33), Carlos Garcia (33) and Jones (18) -- who own fewer than 34 homers apiece in their careers.
Carroll hit the first home run in franchise history May 2, 1887, against Lady Baldwin of the Detroit Wolverines.
It was the Pittsburg Alleghenies' second game of the season, a 2-0 victory at Recreation Park, which was witnessed by about 5,000 fans.
Carroll homered 27 times in his eight-year pro career, which included stints with the Columbus Buckeyes of the American Association and the Pittsburgh Burghers of the short-lived Players League.
It took another 36 years before the Pirates reached the 1,000-homer mark. Ewell "Reb" Russell did it Sept. 19, 1923, off Boston Braves right-hander Joe Genewich.
Another 18 years went by until Lopez hit the 2,000th homer. After an 11-year wait for No. 3,000, hit by Kiner, the gaps between milestones fell into single-digit years.
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