Ryan O’Hearn didn’t leave Milwaukee quietly.
The Pirates’ slugging first baseman/outfielder came away from Pittsburgh’s three-game sweep of the Brewers on Sunday with plenty to like about the team’s 50-47 record heading into the MLB All-Star break, but his own weekend was a different story. O’Hearn was hit by a pitch in all three games, taking one in each half of Saturday’s doubleheader and another in Sunday afternoon’s 14-5 win.
After the finale, the 2025 All-Star and offseason free-agent addition took aim at Brewers manager Pat Murphy, saying Murphy taunted him after the pitch that sent him to first base. O’Hearn said, according to DK Pittsburgh Sports’ Jose Negron, that he’d "never seen it before."
O’Hearn said he had no issue with any of the three Milwaukee pitchers who hit him, including Robert Gasser, but he said Murphy crossed the line.
"I don't think (Robert Gasser) did it on purpose, just tired of getting hit three games in a row," O'Hearn said, per Negron. "I let out my frustration, went to first base and it was their manager, actually, who followed me down to their end of the dugout to call me names.
Everything was totally fine and handled fine, until I got to first base and their manager followed me down to first base to call me names, which is crazy because I had a lot of respect for that guy. I've never seen it before."
The hit-by-pitch trend has been a real part of O’Hearn’s season. He set a career high with eight plunkings in 2025 and already has five this year. Against Brewers pitching in 2026, he’s been hit four times in 20 at-bats.
It’s also O’Hearn’s first season in the NL Central, after spending his first five years with the Royals and two-plus seasons with the Orioles before being acquired by the Padres at the 2025 trade deadline.
Even with the frustration, he still put together a solid series at the plate, finishing 2-for-8 with a double, two RBIs, two runs scored, one walk and three strikeouts.
The Pirates and Brewers won’t see each other again until a four-game series at American Family Field from Aug. 3 to Aug. 6, leaving a few weeks for whatever tension this weekend created to cool off.
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