Gregory Polanco snaps out of slump as Pirates pound Brewers for 2nd straight win

Derek Shelton predicted that Gregory Polanco’s bat was coming around. The Pittsburgh Pirates manager saw something special in the right fielder in spite of his low batting average and high strikeout rate.

Shelton believed Polanco was too healthy and too talented for his struggles to continue, and the hard hits soon would become extra-base hits. And he didn’t hesitate to tell Polanco as much.

Polanco broke out of his slump in a big way Saturday afternoon, with a two-run home run that sparked a hit parade as the Pirates cruised to a 12-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park.

“It feels good, man,” Polanco said. “It’s been a tough month for me, but you know me. I’m a grinder. I’m going to keep grinding. I’m going to keep working hard. I’m going to keep fighting. I’m looking for my stuff that I do, for the little things. … I’ve been working so hard the last month for this. Good to have a day like this.”

After missing time with a positive test for covid-19, Polanco was batting .085 (4 for 47) and had 24 strikeouts in 15 games. He went 2 for 3 with a double in his first at bat before stroking a 1-1 pitch 434 feet into right field to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning.

“The fact that he’s continued to be probably as good a teammate as you could ask for, being the longest-tenured Pirate here, being someone that buys into what we’re doing … ,” Shelton said, ticking off Polanco’s positives. “I understand the strikeouts are there. But if you’re asking me, I’m taking Gregory Polanco every day, and I’m taking the way he is in our clubhouse every day. He’ll continue to bust his (butt), and it’s gonna come with him.”

Polanco was one of four Pirates with multiple hits as they collected 14 against five Brewers pitchers. Adam Frazier (3 for 5) and Jacob Stallings (2 for 3) also homered, Colin Moran (3 for 4) had his first career game with three doubles and Bryan Reynolds went 2 for 5 with a double.

The Pirates (6-17) scored seven or more runs for the second consecutive game in winning back-to-back games for the first time this season.

In the first inning, Moran doubled down the right-field line to score Frazier, whose head-first slide beat Manny Pina’s tag at the plate. The play was reviewed, but Frazier was ruled safe, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

Polanco doubled to right in the second, advancing to third on Cole Tucker’s groundout, but was thrown out at home trying to score on JT Riddle’s grounder to first.

Starting pitcher Derek Holland benefited from double plays in the first two innings, but Mark Mathias hit a leadoff double in the third. Holland compounded the situation when he spun to pick off Mathias at second, but no one covered the base. Holland tried to stop, but his throw sailed into shallow right field, allowing Mathias to advance to third.

Holland recovered to strike out Orlando Arcia, get Ryan Braun to pop out to second and Christian Yelich to ground out to first to end the inning. That wouldn’t be Holland’s last errant throw of the game. After giving up a 423-foot home run to Jedd Gyorko to tie it at 1-1 in the fourth, Holland walked Avisail Garcia. Holland’s pickoff throw went wide of Josh Bell at first, allowing Garcia to advance to second. But Holland (1-1) struck out Luis Urias with a high fastball to end the inning, and earned his first victory with the Pirates and first win since April 9, 2019.

Polanco hit the two-run homer in the fourth for a 3-1 lead, and the Pirates never looked back.

“He’s been hitting the ball really hard, so when he gets going, it’s awesome,” Moran said. “It’s always good to see that big smile that he gets It gets contagious, his energy, and everybody was pulling for him to get those two big hits. When he smoked that first one, everybody was able to take a little bit of an exhale and extend that lead and get us going.”

The Pirates added two runs in the fifth — on Frazier’s homer off lefty reliever Brent Suter and Reynolds’ double to score Moran — and two more in the sixth when Stallings hit a two-run shot for a 7-1 lead.

The Brewers answered in the seventh with Keston Hiura’s three-run home run off Dovydas Neverauskas to cut it to 7-4. The Pirates responded with a five-run seventh inning. Stallings drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk, Erik Gonzalez hit a two-run single to center and Frazier followed with a two-run double down the left-field line for a 12-4 lead.

The Brewers added a run in the ninth, when Yelich hit a ground-rule double over the fence at the North Side Notch off Nick Mears to score Arcia. Mears walked Yelich and Hiura to load the bases for Jace Peterson, who grounded out to second to end the game.

“I think it’s important with the fact that we’ve been inconsistent, we’ve been in games inconsistent in terms of finishing games and we were able to finish two games in a row, I think it’s an important step,” Shelton said. “We talk about teaching tools. We talk about getting better. I think the last few days I think we’ve seen a lot of positive steps towards that.”