On Saturday August 8, hosting the Dodgers at PNC Park, the Pirates' starting pitcher Francisco Liriano, of all people, lifted a 0-1 Mat Latos pitch to the left field line for a 3-run jimmy jack in the second inning. As a result, the Dominican lefty joined the As Many As or More Career Home Runs Than Duane Kuiper Club for eternity. It not only was a home run by a pitcher, but also was a opposite field shot.

A 4-bagger by a pitcher is not something you see an a daily basis, let alone a oppo taco. In his heyday, Carlos Zambrano, a known offensive juggernaut, hit six opposite fielder dingers by himself from 2006 to 2008. But those days are long gone. In the 2010s, major league pitchers as hitters have gone the other way for home runs only seven times, including Liriano. For comparison, there have been 25 no-hitters, including Hisashi Iwakuma last Thursday, in the same time frame. So, in some sense, you can say there have been 3.5 times more no-hitters than pitcher oppo tacos in this decade. Let's take a look back at the other six since 2010.

Yovani Gallardo, 7/27/2010, off Edinson Volquez

Naturally, the first pitcher oppo taco in the 2010 came from a guy who put up one of the best pitcher-hitting seasons in the decade that year. It was one of the four home runs Gallardo swatted in 2010, the year he posted an outstanding 122 OPS+, which is the third-highest figure among pitchers logged at least 50 plate appearance in a season in the 2010s.

Chris Carpenter, 9/10/2010, off Mike Minor

Carpenter, a lifetime .118/.145/.150 hitter, yanked only one other long ball in 501 plate appearances in his career. He retired with a -21 career OPS+. Only 24 other players, surprisingly all pitchers, since 1914 had a career lower OPS+ in at least 500 plate appearances. But this proves that even one of the worst hitters of all-time can do something magical with the bat.

Zack Duke, 5/28/2011, off Bud Norris

Here's an interesting fact: the oppo taco occurred in Duke's first game in 2011. The southpaw entered the season with an eye-covering .167/.196/.191 career slash line. Starting this day, his numbers improves to a more adequate .333/.360/.583 with another home run under his belt. Maybe it has something to do with a small sample size (he's logged only 28 plate appearances during this offensive surge), but who knows. I believe it was a turning point for him.

Ross Ohlendorf, 9/15/2011, off Dana Eveland

Ohlendorf and he of the abysmal career .073/.099/.095 slash line has clubbed no other 4-bagger in his 8-year career. The sole dinger in career being an oppo taco - a feat even the great Duane Kuiper couldn't accomplish. Known for a dead-ball era-esque windup on the mound, the then-28-year old looked much more modern at the plate. For Eveland, who gave up the home run, it's easy to assume it was the lowest point of the mediocre journey that is his baseball career.

Even though he's been one of the best pitchers for the last decade and a half, Hudson has never seen as much of an offensive threat. This particular one needed a helping hand of Bryce Harper, who showed Jose Canseco-esque support. Duke, who gave up the home run, has gone yard the other way himself, which makes him the only pitcher having served up and hit an oppo taco in this decade to date.

By this act, Ross joined Duke and Ohlendorf as the only pitchers to go the opposite way for their first career home runs. It was the first oppo taco by a Padre for the first time in more than 25 years, since Andy Benes took Dennis Cook on September 3rd, 1989, according to Baseball Reference's Play Index. Cooney must have learned his lesson from this mistake. Now knowing that throwing to a middle-middle fastball, even to a pitcher, can hurt badly, the 24-year old lefty hasn't given up a home run since this incident. Although he hasn't seen game action since July 24th.