San Diego Padres

Jose Pirela breaks his long home run drought with blast to right-center

Published Jun. 15, 2018 9:11 p.m. ET

John Horvath

ATLANTA-- It took 268 at-bats, but Jose Pirela finally has hit a home run.

With a runner on first base and one out in the first, Pirela lined a 91 mph cutter by Brandon McCarthy into the Braves bullpen in right-center field. The ball left the Venezuela native's bat at 104 miles-per-hour and traveled 415 feet, per Statcast.

Jose Pirela, who hit 10 home runs last season, went 267 at-bats without a round-tripper to open the 2018 season. That is the longest stretch without a home run to start a season since 1996, when Padres infielder Jody Reed opened his season with 281 at-bats without a home run.

https://twitter.com/Padres/status/1007773128884252672

The Padres currently trail 3-2 heading to the top of the sixth.