Starling Marte ran out of the dugout as soon as he saw the ball leave Gregory Polanco's bat. As it landed on a concrete step over the Clemente Wall, Marte stood near the on-deck circle and began to clap while Polanco rounded the bases. The two men then embraced and Marte followed Polanco into the dugout, where they were celebrated for their unprecedented feat.
"As soon as he hit the ball I knew it was a homer," Marte said at his locker, with Polanco at his side.
The two outfielders became the first Pirates teammates to hit back-to-back home runs in both games of a doubleheader since 1957, yet the moment meant so much more than a feat the franchise had not seen in more than six decades. They hit four of the Pirates' seven solo home runs to sweep the Brewers with wins of 2-1 and 6-2 at PNC Park.
In what Neal Huntington declared a make-or-break week, the Pirates have won five in a row and seven of their last eight. They're now 47-49 and 8 1/2 games back in the division with one remaining until the All-Star break. This, Polanco said, felt similar to 2015, when they won seven of eight before the break on their way to a Wild Card berth.
"It’s good momentum right now," Polanco said. "It’s a good feeling. I saw that before in 2015. We had that kind of streak. Come ready in the second half and give it everything we’ve got. There’s still a lot of baseball left."
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEOThe Pirates entered the week 12 1/2 back with eight games in seven days against two opponents ahead of them in the standings. Their offense has posted the third-best batting average in the National League over the past six days, while the starting rotation has the league's second-lowest ERA in that span. The bullpen, a weakness during the club's slide, posted a 1.91 ERA.
This recent surge has coincided with Marte and Polanco again showing their limitless potential. Marte went 3 for 8 in the doubleheader to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, and he's batted .418 with three doubles, four home runs and nine RBIs during that span, raising his average to .286 and OPS to .819. He has 13 home runs, 16 doubles, 43 RBIs and a league-best 24 stolen bases.
Polanco, meanwhile, has hit safely in 14 of his past 17 games, going .316 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs. His 16 home runs are the most by a Pirates right fielder before the All-Star break since Bobby Bonilla hit 16 in 1990. He's also raised his average to .235 and his OPS to .826, as he leads the Pirates in home runs and RBIs (51).
Marte and Polanco were split up in the batting order during their struggles; however, they've thrived since again batting second and third, respectively. Brewers starter Chase Anderson was burnt by both in the first inning of Game 1, as they punished fastballs over the plate for solo home runs:
"Those guys have really put their foot down," Ivan Nova, the starter for Game 1, said afterwards. They weren't done yet, either. The second time came under different circumstances, with the Pirates in need of insurance runs. Although Clay Holmes, recalled as the 26th man to start Game 2, pitched six scoreless innings; the club's bullpen was still taxed from Game 1.
Nova allowed one run on seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts, but he was pulled after pitching only 4 2/3 innings. With Kyle Crick, Edgar Santana and Richard Rodriguez unavailable for Game 2, Tyler Glasnow tried and failed to pitch two innings, leaving only Michael Feliz and Steven Brault available to cover innings.
Solo home runs by Max Moroff and Jordan Luplow, as well as an RBI single by David Freese in the sixth, had the Pirates leading by three runs entering the eighth. That's when Marte and Polanco tacked on two more with these impressive swings, both with two strikes:
"We know we’ve got potential, playing and being us," Polanco said. "Not trying to do overdo things. … Give it everything we have."
Their four total RBIs wouldn't have held weight, though, had the supporting cast not chipped in during two of the Pirates' more complete games all season. Luplow added a second home run in the eighth inning. The bullpen backed Nova in Game 1 with 4 1/3 scoreless innings, and Feliz's two runs allowed in the ninth were the lone blemish on the six relievers who pitched Saturday.
Rodriguez, Feliz and Felipe Vazquez each escaped bases-loaded jams with a strikeout. Santana allowed a one-out walk in the seventh inning of Game 1, only to strike out Jesus Aguilar with a drop-off-the-table slider and Elias Diaz threw out Keon Broxton from his knees for an inning-ending double play.
Vazquez secured his fifth and sixth saves of the week, entering with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning of Game 2, only to strike out Christian Yelich on three pitches. "We’re playing really good baseball right now," Holmes said. "It’s not really just one guy. There's a lot of guys that are stepping up and having big games, pulling through. To be able to take the torch and help us get a win in the second game today was a lot of fun. … I think it’s fun for everyone right now."
The Pirates had 15 hits over the two games and left 11 men on base; however, they helped knock the Brewers out of first place and eight of the 13 position players had at least one hit. They'll go for a five-game sweep Sunday and begin the four-day All-Star break Monday before embarking on a six-game road trip.
The non-waiver trade deadline is a little over two weeks away and the suddenly revitalized Pirates are stating their case to Huntington. What they've shown over this seven-games-in-six-days stretch has only reaffirmed what Hurdle's been saying all along.
"You keep playing and people keep asking me, I tell them the one thing about this team is they continue to fight," Hurdle said. "You lose sometimes. ... Our guys have been resilient, they’re tough and they work hard. They’re playing together. It’s been fun to watch us surge back."
1. Underwhelming first half for Nova.
Nova wasn’t hit hard in Game 1. Of his seven hits allowed, only one was for extra bases — a one-out double by Lorenzo Cain in the first. Nova, making his 18th start before the break, produced eight ground-ball outs compared to only one fly out. He threw 57 of his 83 pitches for strikes and retired 10 of 12 following Cain’s double.
Nova was pulled with the bases loaded because Travis Shaw, who was 12 for 16 in his career against Nova, was stepping to the plate. Rodriguez got the strikeout to strand them loaded, finishing the line on Nova's start.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEONova had a 4.38 ERA and 1.28 WHIP before the break, as opponents batted .277 against him. He's allowed a team-high 19 home runs with 79 strikeouts to 17 walks, while surrendering 9.9 hits per nine innings — his worst mark since 2014. Neither he nor Hurdle were displeased with how this start went, though.
Although he received little help from his defense — a line drive went off Josh Harrison's glove for an infield single — Nova still threw 27 pitches in the fifth.
"I think I made good pitches there. I think we had an opportunity to get the three outs," Nova said. "We didn’t make the plays. The ground balls hit the hole. … I made a lot of pitches. That’s a tough matchup for me with Shaw coming up. I knew he would take me out. That guy had a lot of success off me. Overall, it was a good day for me."
2. Rodriguez quite the find.
The front office deserves credit for finding Rodriguez. The right-hander is 28 years old and spent parts of four seasons in Triple-A before finally making his big league debut with the Orioles last September. He posted a 2.64 WHIP in 5 2/3 innings before being sent back down.
Yes, he was so bad that he was sent down by a bad team with the rosters expanded to 40 men. Rodriguez doesn't have overwhelming velocity, either. He's a two-pitch pitcher — fastball and slider — while his velocity tops out at 93 mph. Yet, he's arguably been the Pirates' best reliever in the first half.
Rodriguez pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in Game 1, striking out Shaw to end the fifth and retiring the side in order in the sixth. He has a 2.35 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 49 strikeouts to seven walks in 38 1/3 innings this season. Hurdle has labeled Rodriguez as one of four relievers he trusts in high-leverage situations. He, along with Crick, Santana and Vazquez, has helped stabilize the bullpen over the past three weeks.
"They have done a tremendous job," Nova said. "They’ve had ups and downs. Especially those last three guys. They’ve really stepped up. It’s unbelievable weapons we have out there. You have to put Richard in that group, too. He can come in the fifth, sixth. No matter what situation. … You know if you can pitch five, six innings you can get the ball to them and they can get the job done."
3. Holmes, other guys make a statement.
If Huntington begins a fire sale, he intends to give more playing time to players such as Moroff, Luplow, Jacob Stallings and Jose Osuna. The general manager wants to find out who can help this current core in 2019 and those players are each under consideration to replace a veteran.
Holmes has now put himself in that conversation. The 25-year-old overwhelmed the Brewers with his sinker, producing eight ground ball outs and needing only 82 pitches to get through six innings. He struck out six batters, including Tyler Saladino with two on in the sixth, and allowed only one extra-base hit — a double by Yelich in the first inning.
It was a stark difference from his previous start, when he allowed four runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Holmes was sent to High-A Bradenton to make one start to line him up to pitch in this doubleheader, and he managed to find a solution to all that went wrong on the west coast.
"Attacking the zone and throwing more to contact," Holmes said of what he learned against the Dodgers. "I still think I could have thrown to contact a little bit better. That was the emphasis going into today, especially with my sinkers. Throw to contact and let them put the ball on the ground."
That's his strength, and that strategy was effective with a sinker that reached 99 mph, as well as a curveball and change. His four-seam fastball also had cutting action, which seemed to confuse the Brewers. Holmes must return to Triple-A Indianapolis Sunday, but he's now the obvious replacement if the Pirates part with Nova at the deadline.
"Boy, I thought he pitched a really good big league game," Hurdle said. "Yeah, the things he was doing in Triple-A he did today at the major league level against a very good team. Commanded the fastball. His first-pitch strikes were below; however, he just made pitches after that. His sinker had good life, good finish."
Meanwhile, Moroff hit a 363-foot home run to left off Brent Suter in the third inning of Game 2, and Luplow went deep twice, including this 441-foot shot to dead center against Aaron Wilkinson:
Also, Luplow threw out a runner at third base earlier in the inning, and Stallings, recalled Saturday morning when Francisco Cervelli went back on the disabled list, caught Holmes' impressive start. "It was half the Triple-A squad out there," Moroff joked.