Pittsburgh Pirates: 8th Inning Home Run by Gregory Polanco Powers Sweep

The Pittsburgh Pirates entered this weekend against Milwaukee with a record of 4-17. 24 runs and a series sweep of the Brewers later, and the Pirates are now on a three-game roll.

Through 21 games the Pittsburgh Pirates bats have been quiet for the most part, ranking dead last in terms of run production. This weekend things changed and the Pirates exploded for 24 total runs, five of which coming from today’s comeback win over the Brewers.

Following the weekend sweep of the Brew Crew, the Pirates are now 7-17 on the season. By sweeping the Brewers, not only did the team pick up consecutive wins for the first time this season but they also earned their first series victory of 2020.

Erik Gonzalez wasted no time getting things going this afternoon, leading off the bottom of the 1st with a first-pitch double off of the Clemente Wall. Adam Frazier followed with an RBI single to right and the Pittsburgh Pirates took an early 1-0 lead.

Things took a turn for the worse following Frazier’s single, however, as Kevin Newman struck out swinging and also left the game following the strikeout due to lower right abdominal discomfort. JT Riddle was called upon to play third as Gonzalez shifted to shortstop after Newman’s departure.

Cole Tucker was inserted into right field and José Osuna shifted to first base after a collision at first base between Avisaíl García and Colin Moran forced Moran out of Sunday’s game with concussion-like symptoms. Moran was being evaluated for a concussion and we will likely learn more on Tuesday.

Gregory Polanco started off the bottom of the 2nd with a single to right center and then stole second base. An Osuna groundout advanced Polanco to third and then a Jarrod Dyson RBI single gave the Bucs a 2-0 lead.

JT Brubaker started for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was solid. Overall, Brubaker wound up giving up 2 earned runs over his 4+ innings of work.

Through his first 3 innings, Brubaker was dominant, striking out five batters and allowing only one runner to reach base via a walk. The right-hander ran into trouble in the top of the fourth however as Keston Hiura singled to right and Justin Smoak followed with an RBI double. This brought the Pirates’ lead to one.

Brubaker closed the inning and then began the 5th, allowing a leadoff double to Luis Urías. Catcher Omar Narváez followed with an RBI single and this tied the game at 2 before the bullpen phone rang and Geoff Hartlieb was called upon. The reliever got Orlando Arcia to ground into a double play and struck out Christian Yelich to end the 5th.

In the top of the 6th, an error by the third basemen Riddle allowed Hiura to reach base. Smoak then followed with a 2-run home run off the left field foul pole which gave the Brewers a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, Riddle led off with a double to right field and was advanced to third by a Tucker ground out to second. With one out, Bryan Reynolds singled to right-center to trim the Brewers’ lead to one in the bottom of the 6th.

Both teams were quiet offensively until the bottom of the 8th inning when Tucker singled to left. Reynolds went down on strikes to follow but he was followed by a 2-run blast off the bat of Gregory Polanco to give the Bucs a 5-4 lead. This is now back-to-back 2-3 performances with home runs for Polanco who seems to be finding his groove at the plate.

With Keone Kela temporarily unavailable due to forearm soreness, Richard Rodriguez was called upon in the 9th inning. Rodriguez quickly sat down Narváez and Arcia via strikeout and then Garcia lined out to left field to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 5-4 victory and the three-game sweep.

What’s Next

Steven Brault (3.00 ERA, 3.66 FIP) and the 7-17 Bucs will have Monday off before traveling to Chicago to take on Lucas Giolito (3.89 ERA, 3.24 FIP) and the White Sox at 8:10 PM ET on Tuesday night.