Gregory Polanco's home run in 8th inning leads Pirates to sweep of Brewers

Gregory Polanco never said he planned to hit the winning home run Sunday.

All he did was turn to teammate Jose Osuna and say, “Watch, I’m about to hit this ball really hard.”

He simply carried through with that promise.

The fact the ball sailed over the wall in right field for a two-run homer was just a bonus. Even better for the Pittsburgh Pirates, it led to a 5-4 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park. The Pirates (7-17) stretched their winning streak to three and swept a series for the first time this season.

After he hit the ball, he looked back at Osuna (the on-deck hitter) and said, ‘See, I told you.’ ”

The pitch thrown by Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher David Phelps left Polanco’s bat at 107.3 mph and landed 419 feet from home plate. The blast maintained Polanco’s string of shots with impressive velocity over the past two days. He singled in the second inning at 111 mph, and his homer Saturday was clocked at 105.7 mph.

“My hands are good, and I’m healthy,” said Polanco, whose batting average fell under .100 this season after shoulder surgery two years ago and a bout with covid-19 last month.

“He’s been really aggressive,” manager Derek Shelton said, explaining Polanco’s improvement at the plate. “We thought his timing was good at the end of (spring training) 2.0 (in July), but he lost it because he lost 10 days because he tested positive.

“We’re starting to see him get his timing back, the ability to take really aggressive swings.”

With two hits and a walk in three at-bats, Polanco lifted his average to .151, but six of his eight hits this season are for extra bases (four homers and two doubles).

Polanco admitted his struggles have been difficult, but he said friends and family — especially his mom — have been supportive.

“I have people around me who say ‘You have talent. You know you are a good player.’ ”

The victory was especially encouraging to the Pirates because timely hitting synced with a good start by JT Brubaker and effective work from the bullpen.

The Pirates played most of the game without Colin Moran and Kevin Newman. Moran is being evaluated for a concussion after a collision at first base with the Brewers’ Avisail Garcia. Newman left with abdominal discomfort.

Still, the Pirates started fast, scoring once in each of the first two innings to give them runs in six of seven over two days, including the 12-5 victory Saturday.

Brubaker threw three scoreless, hitless innings before he tired in the longest start of his rookie season (four-plus innings).

“At the end, his stuff was not sharp, and he started to get tired,” Shelton said.

But to the manager, that wasn’t the most significant aspect of Brubaker’s effort.

“He threw 19 more pitches (a total of 76). It’s a step forward,” Shelton said. “We need to keep taking steps forward.

“That’s the next step for him to take to be a quality major league starter.”

Other than Geoff Hartlieb giving up a two-run homer to Justin Smoak that gave the Brewers a 4-2 lead in the sixth, the bullpen was solid. An inning earlier, Hartlieb relieved Brubaker and forced Orlando Arcia to hit into a double play and struck out Christian Yelich on an 86-mph slider.

Sam Howard, Nik Turley, winning pitcher Chris Stratton and Richard Rodriguez threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

Rodriguez’s outing was important with closer Keone Kela down with forearm tightness.

Shelton appreciates Rodriguez’s approach.

“He doesn’t change,” the manager said. “He hasn’t changed since the first day that we sat down and talked to him in Bradenton to now, regardless of the situation.

“The thing I love about him the most is, I ask him all the time if he wants to pitch and he tells me, ‘Any time, any day, and as much as you want.’ And I think he genuinely means it.”

The Pirates met as a team before the Brewers series to reinforce their belief in each other and keep everyone encouraged despite the 4-17 start.

Rodriguez said it has been difficult with the series of injuries to the pitching staff.

“It’s been tough to witness,” Rodriguez said, “and be a part of so many guys going down, especially some of the guys, like Keone Kela, (Kyle) Crick, (Clay) Holmes, Michael Feliz. These are guys that are huge assets to the bullpen.

“These are guys that are brothers to me and that have so much to offer to our bullpen and to our team, but I know that they’ll be back.

“I’m really proud of the guys that we have right now.”

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