ATLANTA (Interstat) — Spencer Horwitz put on a powerful display, going 3 for 3 with two home runs and four RBIs, to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 9-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night at Truist Park.

The Pirates’ offense erupted for 14 hits, with Horwitz setting the tone. Tommy Pham added a two-run homer in a four-run second inning that gave Pittsburgh an early lead it would not relinquish. Nick Gonzales, Bryan Reynolds, Nick Yorke and Henry Davis each contributed two hits to the onslaught.

The Braves, who managed eight hits, saw Matt Olson and Michael Harris II homer. Ronald Acuña Jr. collected three of Atlanta’s hits in the loss.

A crowd of 34,500 watched as the Pirates improved to 70-90, while the Braves fell to 75-85. The result was an upset, as Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 7-4 Atlanta win, and the Braves entered as pregame favorites with a 59.9 percent probability to win according to the ELO system. The total score of 12 runs easily surpassed the over/under line of 8.5.

Atlanta struck first in the bottom of the opening inning when Olson launched his 29th home run of the season to right field off Pirates starter Mitch Keller.

Pittsburgh’s response was swift and decisive in the top of the second against Braves starter Joey Wentz. Horwitz worked a walk, and Pham followed by crushing his 10th homer of the year to left field, putting the Pirates ahead 2-1. The rally continued as Yorke singled and later scored on a line-drive single from Davis. Gonzales then drove in Davis with another single to center, capping the four-run inning and giving Pittsburgh a 4-1 advantage.

Keller navigated traffic on the bases, including loading the bases with two walks in the third inning, but escaped unscathed by striking out Ha-Seong Kim and getting Harris to ground out. Keller’s night ended after 3 2/3 innings, having allowed one run on three hits while striking out six.

The Pirates bullpen took over from there, with Mike Burrows surrendering a solo home run to Harris in the sixth inning that trimmed the Pittsburgh lead to 4-2.

Horwitz got that run back immediately in the top of the seventh, blasting his 10th homer of the season to right-center field to make it 5-2.

The Braves answered in the bottom half of the frame when Acuña Jr. singled and scored on a double by Drake Baldwin, pulling Atlanta within two runs at 5-3.

Pittsburgh put the game out of reach in the ninth inning against reliever Hunter Stratton. Jared Triolo led off with a double and scored when Gonzales reached on a throwing error by second baseman Nick Allen. After a strikeout, Andrew McCutchen singled to set the stage for Horwitz, who sealed his spectacular night by launching his second homer of the game and 11th of the season, a three-run shot to right-center that extended the lead to 9-3.

Dennis Santana worked a perfect ninth inning to close out the victory for Pittsburgh.

Yohan Ramírez earned the win with 1/3 of an inning of scoreless relief, improving to 3-3. Joey Wentz took the loss for Atlanta, falling to 5-7 after allowing four runs on six hits in two innings of work.

The Pirates’ recent form had been inconsistent, having lost 2-1 to the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday after winning the first two games of that series. The Braves were coming off a 4-3 loss to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. Pittsburgh had won two of three games when these teams last met in Pittsburgh back in May.

The two teams are scheduled to continue their three-game series on Saturday.