Pittsburgh Pirates: Offense Backs JT Brubaker in Excellent Start

JT Brubaker and the Pittsburgh Pirates kept the Milwaukee Brewers at bay in the first game of a three game weekend series on Friday night, winning 6-1

The Pittsburgh Pirates kicked off a three-game weekend series at their house of horrors against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. This was the first time the Pirates had played at the house of horrors since the ballpark’s name was changed from Miller Park to American Family Field, and maybe the name change is what they needed.

They took home a 6-1 victoy thanks to a great outing by starting pitcher JT Brubaker and the offense backing him up. With the win, the Pittsburgh Pirates are now 6-8 on the season. Now, let’s get into recapping and analyzing Friday night’s action.

Scoring

The Pittsburgh Pirates opened up the scoring tonight in the 2nd inning. First baseman Colin Moran continued his hot start to 2021 by hitting a solo home run off of Brewer starter Adrian Houser. The Pirates scored 3 more runs in the 5th inning when Kevin Newman started the inning with an infield hit. Then, Dustin Fowler came up and slapped a single to center field, putting two men on base.

After Brubaker struck out on a failed bunt attempt, second baseman Adam Frazier stepped to the plate and hustled out a triple, driving in both Newman and Fowler. The Bucs capped the inning off when left fielder Bryan Reynolds scored Frazier on a double.

The Pirates struck again in the 8th inning. Reynolds started the inning off with a walk and Moran nearly had another hit but was robbed on a diving catch by Jackie Bradley Jr. Then, with two outs against 2020 National League Rookie of the Year winner Devin Williams, right fielder Gregory Polanco blasted off against the right-hander. The 2nd home run fo the season for Polanco extened the Pirate lead to 6-1.

Pitching

JT Brubaker took the hill for the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday and was nothing short of magnificent. Through 6 innings of work the right-hander struck out 8 batters, allowed just a single earned run, gave up 4 hits and did not walk a batter. Brubaker’s biggest struggles of the night were with the HBP. He hit Bradley Jr. once and first baseman Keston Hirua twice. But other than that, Brubaker was outstanding. It was his second consecutive quality start and his 2nd win of the season.

After Brubaker was pulled, Derek Shelton went to Chris Stratton for the 7th inning. Stratton got his first two outs fairly easily, striking out Luis Urias, walking Jace Peterson and then striking out Tyrone Taylor. However, Bradley Jr. hit a single, Hiura walked and the bases were loaded for slugger Travis Shaw. Shelton pulled Stratton opting to go for the matchup with lefty Sam Howard. Howard only needed one pitch and got Shaw to fly out to Reynolds.

Kyle Crick came in to pitch the 8th and while he walked the first batter, that being Avisail Garcia, he got backstop Omar Narvaez to hit a chopper to Moran to start a double play. Crick finished up the inning by striking out pinch hitter Daniel Robertson on 4 pitches. Duane Underwood Jr. was put in to close out the game. He did walk Tyrone Taylor, but shut the door on a 6-1 victory.

What’s Next?

The Bucs will take on the Brewers again Saturday night at 7:10 PM EST. Right-hander Trevor Cahill (8.00 ERA, 4.02 FIP) will start the game for the Bucs. He’s coming off a very solid 5 inning outing against the Padres. He’ll be opposed by veteran left-hander Brett Anderson (4.50 ERA, 6.93 FIP).