The Pirates were without one of their most reliable pieces throughout their latest skid, in which they lost eight of their past nine games.
It wasn't a player that was on the injured list or sidelined in any matter. But what had been missing was the version of JT Brubaker that was a potential ace through the first six weeks of the season. After giving up 12 runs in his past two outings, Brubaker righted the ship at a desperate time for the Pirates on Saturday afternoon against the Rockies.
Brubaker nearly went the (shortened) distance and was supported by the Pirates’ best offensive output in two weeks during a 7-0 victory in the doubleheader matinee at PNC Park. The Buccos move to 19-31 on the season with the win to put an end to a six-game losing streak.
The 27-year-old right-hander had just about everything working for five dominant innings. He worked around a hit and a walk in the first before settling in to retire 13 of the next 14 batters he faced.
“Just a mix of everything, being able to throw them for strikes and then being able to throw them for chase when I need to,” Brubaker said.
The Rockies put just one ball in play against Brubaker with an exit velocity of at least 100 mph, and that one found a glove in the fifth inning. They also had just five balls in play that were at least 94 mph off the bat. Three of those came in the sixth inning -- the first in which he actually ran into some trouble.
Brubaker plunked C.J. Cron to load the bases following Ryan McMahon’s double but got consecutive fly balls to Gregory Polanco in right to keep the Rockies off the board.
On a wet, chilly day, Derek Shelton did not let Brubaker push for the Pirates’ first complete game of the season, especially as the offense put the game out of reach for Colorado.
“I think he wanted the seventh from the way that he looked at me when I came down there,” Shelton said. “If it would have been efficient in the sixth, he probably would have gotten a chance in the seventh. But I think we were happy with where he was at.”
After hitting back-to-back homers in the previous game, Polanco and Bryan Reynolds keyed the Pirates’ offense again Saturday. Reynolds bashed a two-run shot to all but put this game on ice in the fifth. Polanco finished with a pair of hits, including a triple off the right-field wall that followed Reynolds’ homer, while scoring a run and driving in another. In the past two games, that duo is a combined 6-for-12 with four runs scored and four RBIs.
“We always talk about it before the game. He goes like, 'Let's go, Polly! Let's go! You and me! Let's go!' He's always talking about that, let's go back-to-back,’” Polanco said. “It doesn't have to be homers, but line drives or whatever. We're always talking and pushing together. He's got my back, I got his. We always try to [have] everybody do good, so we hold each other accountable.”
It was just the third time this month and the sixth all season that the Pirates scored at least seven runs. They have won all six of those games. Ben Gamel and Cole Tucker each collected a hit and drove in a run while Michael Perez had an RBI knock for his third consecutive game.
More coverage from PNC Park will follow the conclusion of Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader.