MILWAUKEE -- With the roof closed at American Family Field, the limited-capacity crowd of more than 11,000 sounded like the sell outs of the pre-pandemic world. And when JT Brubaker locked horns with Travis Shaw in the third inning there was enough energy to match the Pirates’ hurler’s typical exuberance.
Brubaker threw a fastball past Shaw to strand the bases loaded and set the tone for a 6-1 victory against the Brewers on Friday night. The win kicked off a nine game road trip and propelled the Pirates out of the basement and ahead of the Cubs in the national league central.
“They were after it at that point, and for him to step up and ...execute pitches right there was a really good sign of maturity for Bru,” Derek Shelton said.
The Pirates’ rotation has mostly lived up to the expectation that it will probably be the most significant weak spot on the roster. But Brubaker (2-0) has proven to be the exception. On Friday, he became the first Pirates starter to complete six innings so far this season. And he looked brilliant doing so, allowing a run on four hits and three hit batsmen with eight strikeouts.
Brubaker had everything working. His four-seamer pounded the top of the zone and he threw his best slider well enough to both sides of the plate and rarely missed wide enough to be an obvious give away pitch. He threw 54 of 83 pitches for strikes and felt he executed his game plan.
“I feel like I attacked them,” Brubaker said.
Trevor Cahill’s start on Saturday will mark the third complete turn through the rotation for the Pirates’ staff. Through three starts in 2021, Brubaker leads the club with a 1.76 ERA and 18 strikeouts. It’s all small samples, but not only has he posted the best numbers but he’s displaying qualities and finding success in a way that could truly benefit some of the other members of the rotation.
The 27-year-old had obviously benefitted from having an excellent command of all his pitches, namely his slider, Friday night. But he’s seemed to pick up best on the organization’s preaching for pitchers to trust their stuff and work within the zone.
Even when he misses, Brubaker has shown he can still effectively recalibrate and execute pitches. Go back to the third inning. With Julio Urias on second following a lead-off double, Brubaker rebounded to strike out the next two batters. Then he got a bit too literal with a back-foot slider to Jackie Bradley Jr. that actually hit Bradley in the back foot. And then he plunked Keston Hiura and worked a full count to Shaw.
“Once I got the sign it's just I'm going right after them,” Brubaker said. “Here's my best fastball, 'What are you going to do with it?'”
Mitch Keller and Chad Kuhl are often viewed as the two most important pitchers in the Pirates’ starting rotation, especially after Steven Brault went down with a lat strain. So far in their three starts, they’ve issued 23 walks combined and have disproven multiple times that they can stop an inning from unraveling.
It’s a trait that’s actually been shown a few times by the bullpen this season, but Brubaker demonstrated that he knows how to stop the bleeding. First with that strikeout in the third inning, then, once again facing Shaw, on an inning-ending groundout with two runners on in the fifth.
“[Shaw’s] pesky,” Brubaker said. “He made me waste a lot of bullets in that first AB, then it was just making sure I didn’t go down that rabbit hole again. Just wanted to go right after him.”
This is a mentality that would very much benefit Keller and Kuhl. But there was also another quality to Brubaker that was on display in that third inning.
After he threw the fastball by Shaw, Brubaker, feeding off the energy of the crowd, pumped his fists and let out a yell toward the infield. Upon hitting Hiura again in the fifth inning, Brubaker expressed obvious remorse with his body language and held his hands atop his head. Sure, Brubaker is not the only player to have a visceral reaction on the field. But compared to the moments where Keller looks timid or Kuhl seems to let his exasperation get the better of him, Brubaker showed how to rise to the occasion with confidence.
“I think there are a lot of good major league pitchers who show emotion and energy,” Shelton said. “I think it’s just making sure you channel the emotions toward the right things. Part of that comes with maturity and being able to just focus on it.”
Keller and Kuhl are too important to the Pirates to be cast off really at any point in the season. They're going to get many chances to figure it out. Brubaker seems to have figured out a worthwhile path.
Brubaker faced the minimum outside of the two innings in which he’d force Shaw to strand runners on base. His only blemish came on a Tyrone Taylor RBI double in the fifth.
MORE FROM THIS GAME
• Already at this early point in the season, the Pirates were showing they had no control over the running game. Which is not ideal when dealing with as much traffic as this staff has this season. But Jacob Stallings hosed Avisail Garcia on a stolen base attempt in a moment that was crucial to Brubaker completing the sixth inning.
“Heard [first baseman Colin] Moran yell ‘Runner!’ and in my mind we already had fastball called. I was giving Stalls the best opportunity possible,” Brubaker said. “Fastball up and away, right into where he was set up. Easy transfer, easy throw. Just trying to make it easy on him. Any time he can help me out, I want to help him out and make it easy transfer, easy throw down.”
• Moran and Gregory Polanco both went deep for the Pirates. Moran’s was a solo shot for his third of the season which opened the scoring for the game in the second inning. Polanco’s was his second in the past three games. The two-run shot in the eighth inning off 2020 Rookie of the Year Devin Williams was a no-doubter to extend the Buccos’ lead.
“It was a really good swing against a guy who is probably one of the top relievers in baseball,” Shelton said. “He was in a good position to hit, he was ready and he took a really explosive swing at it.”
Polanco was held out of the lineup for two consecutive games during the Padres series as his average fell to .138. He said after his homer against Joe Musgrove on Wednesday that most of the work in those two days revolved around getting his timing right and making sure his front foot comes down in rhythm.
“I think we see the timing coming. And the one thing that’s challenging with timing in hitting is you see a bunch of different pitchers who do a bunch of different things, so you have to work on it,” Shelton said. “But it is becoming more consistent, and it’s a credit to him because he’s worked his butt off at it.”
Adam Frazier produced his second multi-hit game in three days, his biggest knock being a two-run triple in the fifth. Frazier scored in that inning when Bryan Reynolds picked up his first extra-base hit since April 10 -- a hustle double to the opposite field in right that end with a collision with Urias as the throw into second went into the baseline. Everyone was fine and remained in the game.
• Sam Howard got Shaw to strand three more runners -- he accounted for eight of the nine total left on base by the Brewers -- on a pop out in the seventh inning. Chris Stratton struck out a pair but let the bags fill up on a hit and a pair of walks before being bailed out by Howard. Kyle Crick was the beneficiary of a 3-6-3-5-4 double play after issuing a lead-off walk. And Duane Underwood Jr. pitched a scoreless ninth.
“No matter what the situation is,” Brubaker said. “Complete confidence with those guys coming out of the bullpen to come in and shut it down.”
The Pirates’ bullpen has surrendered just one run in 17 ⅓ innings since Tuesday night’s win against San Diego.
THE ESSENTIALS
Boxscore
Video Highlights
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Phillip Evans, 3B
Bryan Reynolds, LF
Colin Moran, 1B
Jacob Stallings, C
Gregory Polanco, RF
Dustin Fowler, CF
Kevin Newman, SS
JT Brubaker, P
And for Craig Counsell's Brewers:
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Keston Hiura, 1B
Travis Shaw, 3B
Avisail Garcia, RF
Omar Narvaez, C
Billy McKinney, LF
Luis Urias, SS
Jace Peterson, C
Adrian Houser, P
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates continue their series with the Brewers Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. as Trevor Cahill (0-1, 8.00 ERA) is scheduled to take on Brett Anderson (1-1, 4.50 ERA).
THE CONTENT
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