Kovacevic: Polanco finally looks like $11 million, so ... second thoughts?

MILWAUKEE -- The answer is no.

As in, a really resounding rejection.

As in, this:

As in, take whatever fleeting thought might've crossed the mind for that phenomenal moment, then erase it from all existence. 

Just as Gregory Polanco gracefully, joyfully did in leaping well above the right-field wall to rob Milwaukee slugger Eduardo Escobar of what would've been a walkoff home run in the ninth inning on this Tuesday night at American Family Field.

Just as Polanco progressed in the 10th inning from stealing victory to sealing it by legging out the winning RBI single.

Pirates 8, Brewers 5.

I swear, I'd never seen the man this happy. And this is someone who's happy only all the time.

Why?

Wow, let's start with this:

Spelled out purely in the Polanco context, then: The Pirates were being no-hit through 6 1/3 innings by Adrian Houser, whose only real trouble had been twice walking Polanco and twice allowing him to steal bases. With Houser's exit, undoubtedly prompted in part because Polanco was up next, Polanco proceeded to break up the no-hitter with a sharp single off Daniel Norris to set up Hoy Park's bases-clearing double and a five-run rally. Then came the catch. Then came the bouncer to deep short that brought Ke'Bryan Hayes home from third for the winner.

But that catch. Oh, man, that catch.

Derek Shelton, watching from the visitors' dugout: "I thought it was out."

Craig Counsell, from the home dugout: "We were all hoping. But he made a great play."

Willy Adames, from atop that same dugout's railing: “I believed it was going out. But Polanco is like, 8 feet tall, so that's why he caught that ball.”

David Bednar, from the mound: "Off the bat, I was like, 'S---!' ... I mean, 'Crap!' And then I saw Greg go up and ... it took me a minute to realize if he caught it or not, if he was ticked off that he just barely missed it or if he was fired up that he caught it. Then he finally got it, and that was unbelievable. I was like, ‘Let’s go!’ "

And then there was the author of the catch himself.

When I asked about his approach, which began with him way back on a white-hot hitter: "With Escobar up, he pulls the ball every time, and with Bednar throwing splitters ... I knew it was coming to right field. So I was ready. But that ball was a line drive. That wasn't a fly ball. So I I knew I just needed to go back to the wall. I saw the wall. I kept running. ... Perfect timing. Perfect jump."

On that celebration: "I was so excited. Especially with Bednar out there. He's such a great guy. I love him so much."

On the part of that celebration that saw him spin around toward a Milwaukee fan visible through that fence: “Oh, the fans back there, they were talking so much crap. They were like, ‘Oh, your team is bad,’ whatever, whatever, the whole game.”

On what he actually shouted to that fan, with the game now bound for extra innings: "We're gonna win this game!"

On why he seemed, at least from my view, a little extra feisty through his 10th-inning at-bat: "You saw it, yeah. I was so excited. I looked at my bat, like, 'Let's go! I want a hit!'

To the bat. The grown man was urging the lumber to do its part.

I could go on and on, but one gets the picture. Great play. Great human. Great W. 

And this, I'm afraid, is where I'll have to pump a few brakes, ably assisted by this line from Polanco right after he described the bat dialogue: "I was excited for me because this was one of my best games, but I was more excited for the win. No matter what situation we're in, I love this team. Because we push. And we push. We fight. Every pitch. Every at-bat. Every play. I wish everyone could know how hard we fought to win this game."

Again, that's great. But there's also the entire herd of elephants in the living room with the Brewers and Pirates at extreme opposite ends of the Central Division. And the franchise being in a build-from-the-bottom stage. And watching Adam Frazier and other contributors moved for prospects.

And -- I'd get to it eventually, right? -- Polanco having one more year on a contract that currently pays $11 million and next year would pay $12.5 million ... unless the Pirates exercise a buyout of that club option for $3 million. Which has been universally expected ... forever and without hesitation. And one wonderful surge, even if it rolls through the season's final two months, would figure to have zero sway over the broader body of work.

He has to know that. And I think he does. A couple weeks ago out in San Francisco, I picked up on Polanco, while wistfully praising the team's young players and future, saying, "I'm happy for them, what they're going to have next year."

'Them.' He used 'them.' Regarding the only team he's known since being signed out of the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old.

He couldn't possibly expect to be retained into 2022, given all circumstances. But if that's bugged him, or if his overall .211/.296/.398 slash line's bugged him, or if his perhaps permanently weakened throwing arm's bugged him ... he sure hasn't let it show.

I asked him if he invests any thought to what his own future might be as it relates to the Pirates. Which brought about a denial that might've rivaled the catch.

"Oh, no no. I would never want to leave Pittsburgh," he replied right away. "I'm comfortable here. I know the city. The fans love me. I love the fans. I love the energy out here. And when we're playing good, you've seen our city, the stadium when we're winning. I want to feel that energy again, for sure. ... I'm 100% in."

The answer will be no. But you know, it's really something. This story could've been so different.

• Before the game, Hoy told me he was, "So excited! So ready!" with the broad smile of a rookie who'd just found out he'd bat leadoff. That was one chance, and the other came when he stepped -- no, strode -- into the box with the bases loaded in the seventh and the Pirates down, 4-2. 

Now, I suppose I'd stride, too, if I'd forged a .475 on-base percentage in Class AAA this summer, but it still seemed impressive in and of itself. And I asked Shelton if maybe he'd noticed the same.

"Yeah, he carries himself like a hitter," Shelton replied without hesitation. "This kid's hit throughout his minor-league career, and I think he walks to the plate with confidence. And that's a cool thing to see with a guy you just acquired."

Not as cool as this:

I asked Park his perspective on standing out at second base after giving his new team a 5-4 lead and looking back toward the dugout.

"That was great. I feel like I was still dreaming," he replied with a smile and shake of the head. "The beginning of the game was tough for us. But we never give up. We knew we could get some hits, some runs. So when it was 5-4, it was really great. It was awesome."

He's 25. The Pirates got him from the Yankees for Clay Holmes. That's nuts.

• Counsell was getting crushed by the crowd of 24,902 for lifting Houser with the no-hitter, even though he'd needed 104 pitches, including five walks, to last his 6 1/3. And yes, there are still people in the year 2021 who think pitch limits don't matter, most of them presumably possessing the same strategic acumen as the one fan near the press box who kept shouting, "Hey, Counsell! Put Houser back in!"

Counsell, rightly, didn't come close to apologizing.

"There was no debate, really," he flatly explained. “He wasn't going to finish the game."

Nope. And the pitcher himself expressed surprise only at not being allowed to finish that inning.

“But I understand it,” Houser said. “It's a new season, a long season compared to last year. We're at a point we haven't been in the last year and my pitch count was obviously pretty high. Way too many walks tonight. But obviously, I wanted to stay in there, get one more guy and get a double play or something like that.”

• If the Brewers want to be upset about blowing a four-run lead to the Pirates, they can first blame their miserable bullpen that needed 95 pitches to record 11 outs, their equally miserable defense that set the stage for Hoy, and whatever went into twice -- twice! -- issuing four-pitch walks to Michael Perez to load the bases for Reynolds!

• Similarly, Joey Cora's decision in the eighth to not send Ben Gamel from third base on a one-out, medium-range flyout to right with Perez on deck ... was staggering. Yeah, Avisail Garcia's got a hose out there, but the odds of getting a run out of a 90-foot sprint are far greater than those of praying for Perez and his .168 bat to produce a base hit.

In fairness, Cora's name hasn't come up nearly as often this summer as it has in the past. But this was a whiff and a half.

• Max Kranick had nowhere to go but down following this perfect five-inning debut June 27 in St. Louis ... and sure enough, that's where he's gone. This four-inning start saw him charged with three runs, five hits, an Adames home run to the second deck in left, and three walks. Only 48 of his 82 pitches were strikes.

Ever since that debut, his three starts have seen him last three, three, five and now four innings for a 9.60 ERA.

Anyone still remember that civic semi-uprising when management sent Kranick right back to Class AAA after St. Louis?

• Spectacular moment in batting practice yesterday I've got to share ...

Steven Brault, who'll make his season debut on the mound this afternoon, grabbed a bat and headed toward the cage, where tells Park, Castro and a couple other youngsters were taking their final swings. Brault playfully informed a presumably skeptical Park that he’s got a .270 career average, Hoy let out a little laugh.

Brault stepped in the cage and launched one to the second deck. 

Hoy gave him a hug, both shared a laugh, and Hoy walked back toward me and said, "I believe him now."

• For the record, Brault's career average is .265. Which -- I'll save everyone the trouble -- is a higher figure than the season average of everyone who started last night except for John Nogowski at .267.

Do I hear cleanup today?

• There's no way to not love the Shea Spitzbarth story.

He's 26 years old, he'd invested a lifetime in trying to reach the majors, he'd pitched extremely well for Class AAA Indianapolis -- 1.41 ERA, 1.03 WHIP in 27 appearances -- and he still couldn't get the call.

He did get a call Saturday, telling him the Port Authority of New York had turned him down for security work there.

And then, of course, he got another call Sunday, this one from Ben Cherington.

And then, here on Monday night, he put up 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, with friends and family filling the seats near the visitors' dugout, then was mobbed by his teammates upon returning to the dugout, as if they weren't on their way to a 6-2 loss.

I asked Spitzbarth yesterday if there were ever times he'd given up.

“Honestly, I was probably a year or two away," he told me. "The new scenery, with the Pirates taking me in the Rule 5 Draft, it just gave me a whole new jolt. Just going somewhere else and going to a team that wants me ... I told myself, 'I'll give it one more year and maybe one more year after that and that's it.' I told myself I'm going to make it the best effort possible, and I think I did what they wanted to do.”

And how's it feel?

"I can't put it into words for you. I just can't. ... This is impossible. I shouldn't be here."

• Baseball can be beautiful. Never forget that.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Hoy Park, CF
2. Rodolfo Castro, 2B
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Ben Gamel, LF
5. John Nogowski, 1B
6. Gregory Polanco, RF
7. Kevin Newman, SS
8. Michael Perez, C
9. Bryse Wilson, RHP

And for Counsell's Brewers:

1. Kolten Wong, 2B
2. Willy Adames, SS
3. Omar Narváez, C
4. Eduardo Escobar, 3B
5. Avisail Garcia, RF
6. Rowdy Tellez, 1B
7. Tyrone Taylor, LF
8. Lorenzo Cain, CF
9. Adrian Houser, RHP

THE SCHEDULE

One more with the Crew here, Brault taking on righty Freddy Peralta (8-3, 2.17) with a 2:10 p.m. Eastern first pitch. After that, it's on to Cincinnati.

IN THE SYSTEM

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• Bradenton

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