PITTSBURGH – Alex Kirilloff remembers standing on the third level of the PNC Park Rotunda, next to the left-field foul pole, with a friend during the 2013 National League wild card game.
It became known as the Johnny Cueto game when the then-Cincinnati Reds pitcher dropped the ball on the mound after a raucous crowd started chanting his name. On the next pitch, Russell Martin hit a solo homer to left field in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 6-2 win.
“I just remember the noise and the atmosphere was crazy,” Kirilloff said. “It felt like the whole stadium was shaking at times. It was definitely a special memory.”
Kirilloff was back at PNC Park this weekend for the first time since he reached the major leagues. He grew up about 20 miles from downtown Pittsburgh in Plum, and he attended a handful of Pirates games per year.
A big Andrew McCutchen fan as a kid, Kirilloff fielded McCutchen’s leadoff single in the first inning Saturday.
“We’ve talked at first base before,” Kirilloff said. “That’s about it. I just loved the way he played the game. Obviously, he has a great reputation on and off the field as well. Definitely a good player to look up to.”
Kirilloff never played a game at PNC Park at any level before Friday’s series opener, though he took batting practice on the field once, maybe when he was 9 years old, as part of a season-ticket holder event through one of his dad’s connections.
He wasn’t sure how many friends and family were in the crowd at each game because many of them bought their own tickets — “Better for my wallet,” Kirilloff said, laughing — but Kirilloff was the highest Pittsburgh-area high schooler taken in the amateur draft in more than a decade when the Twins drafted him in 2016.
