On Tuesday, the atmosphere inside and around PNC Park was unlike anything this town has seen since its opening in 2001.

It was tangible, as if you could grab it and put it in a jar to save forever. And many people who witnessed it wish they could have.

You’d be hard-pressed to find one single person who left their seat for even an inning on Tuesday. Who could blame them?

The standing-room only and filled to capacity PNC Park of 40,331 fans treated it like Game 7 of the World Series. Every pitch, every little thing that was positive in the slightest of ways was met by enormous roars of applause and chants.

Pirates’ pitcher Francisco Liriano showed the national audience that the Pirates were not a fluke and were here to stay. He struck out the first batter of the game and retired the first nine batters of the game.

Outfielder Marlon Byrd electrified the crowd when he took his first post-season at-bat of his career. He belted a hanging breaking ball into the left field bleachers.

The crowd went ballistic, then settled down after Pedro Alvarez flied out to center…but not for long.

An ear-piercing, unstoppable chant of “CUETO, CUETO” was followed by catcher Russell Martin homering over the left field wall.

Just like that, the word “fanatic” had a new meaning. 21 years of frustration, agony, and turmoil was released in a matter of minutes.

After that second inning, it all seemed to be a blur. Liriano cruised through seven innings, and the Bucs scored four more runs to pretty much seal the game.

Closer Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless ninth inning, and, with a jump in the air, it was over.

Andrew McCutchen summed it all up when he looked up to the sky with his hands out.

Pirates’ TV and radio broadcaster Greg Brown was excited, and with good reason.

Almost shouting into the microphone, Brown said, “meet me in St. Louis, Louis.”