A’s Skye Bolt, with family roots in New Ken, narrowly misses HR at PNC Park for 1st MLB hit

Skye Bolt’s first major-league hit came in Pittsburgh, not far from his late great-grandmother’s New Kensington home. But among all the joy of achieving a boyhood dream, Bolt also felt something else Saturday night at PNC Park.

A bit of sheepishness.

“I’ve gotten a fair amount of grief about it,” Bolt told MLB.com of slowing as he rounded first following hitting a ball high off the Clemente Wall in right field. “And hey, for a first hit, I guess it’s got a story behind it.”

Skye Bolt's first #MLB hit was struck about as well as any double you'll see this season.

The #Athletics' No. 19 prospect sent the ball flying 104.4 mph to right at a 22 degree launch angle, narrowly missing a homer.

Follow/watch live: https://t.co/KaxJAO3jqx pic.twitter.com/qZQjTZQR8k

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 5, 2019

Called up Friday by the Oakland Athletics and supported at PNC Park by a contingent of family, Bolt went hitless in his two at bats Friday but came on as a pinch hitter on a soggy Saturday night.

He fell behind 1-2 but fouled off two pitches before turning on a 2-2 curveball and striking it hard and high to right. It came within just a couple feet of a home run.

“Bottom line is I’ve got to start doing homework on my ballparks,” Bolt told the San Francisco Chronicle.

PNC Park’s rightfield wall, of course, is a unique one in that it stands 21 feet high. So Skye appeared to slow up as he rounded first base, and he admitted he thought he had hit a home run for his first MLB hit.

Skye Bolt did indeed think he’d homered on that double for his first major league hit. Says, “I guess I have to do my homework more on visiting parks.”

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) May 5, 2019

Skye’s father, Mike, told the AP that he spent childhood summers with his grandmother in New Kensington and would watch Pirates games at Three Rivers Stadium.

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