Brubaker shows how good he can be with 'elite' fastball execution

JT Brubaker looked at his right hand in the sixth inning Thursday and noticed a blister starting to form.

"This couldn't have come at a worse time," he thought to himself.

Brubaker finished that frame and the seventh before being removed at 84 pitches as a precaution. He missed out on a chance to go for his first major-league shutout, but his performance against the Red Sox at PNC Park that night was one of the finest for any Pirate pitcher this year, going seven shutout frames of two-hit ball to set the pace in an 8-2 Pirates win.

"Definitely up there as one of the best," Brubaker answered when asked if that was the best start of his career. 

He then cracked a smile. "I'll say it's the best right now since I just went through it."

In addition to his seven shutout frames, Brubaker struck out seven, hit one batter and didn't walk any. According to Stathead, it is the 11th time since at least 1901 where a Pirates starter matched or bettered that stat line:

Consider it a tiny bit of history. You can also call this a tiny bit of history: He's the first pitcher in Derek Shelton's time as manager to throw at least seven innings three times in one season, doing so on June 9 and July 13.

"It's got to be close to the top [of his games pitched]," Shelton said. "The fastball execution there was elite. Being able to run the two-seamer back in on the left-handers and then bringing it back with the right-handers, he was in total control the whole time. He had a really good tempo to him, went right after guys, got some early-count swings."

The sinker was the pitch of the night, with Brubaker being able to locate it to both sides of the plate depending if a right-hander or lefty was at the plate, leaving very little over the heart of the plate. In total, he had 20 combined called strikes and whiffs with his fastball, a career high:

"It's something that [I've] been trying to get consistent to work it in a game on both sides," Brubaker said. "There will be games where I have it to one side but not so much on the other."

Using those fastballs, Brubaker set the pace early with a pair of strikeouts and a soft roller back to the mound in a 1-2-3 first inning. The Red Sox never got into a groove after that.

"It makes a huge difference," Bryan Reynolds said. "He always has great pace. Tonight, especially getting outs on the first few pitches, it’s big."

After starting the year a bit shaky, Brubaker has found more success as the year has gone on with a revised pitch mix that relies more on his sinker, slider and curveball. When it's working like Thursday, he proved he can make due with just the fastball, even against a potent Red Sox lineup.

"They can swing the bat, they can get on base and they can put up runs quick," Brubaker said. "To be able to keep them at bay, it's just a confidence builder to continue to move forward through the rest of the year."

• Turns out this Reynolds fella is pretty good at baseball.

After he and Kevin Newman combined for a bloop and a blast in the first inning Wednesday, the duo replicated that combination in the first inning Thursday.

In the fifth inning, they did it again. Newman bloop, Reynolds...

...blast.

After a couple mostly quiet weeks after being activated off the injured list, Reynolds has been on fire of late, homering four times in the last four games.

"Now we see every swing he takes is with aggression, with intent to do damage, and we're seeing that damage," Shelton said.

"They [homers] come in bunches," Reynolds said. "I guess we’re in a bunch right now. Just got some good pitches and luckily didn’t miss them."

The second home run was on a 3-0 count, usually the automatic take. But when you're hot and about to launch your 20th homer of the year, you can change your plans.

"I wasn’t going to swing," Reynolds said, "and then as he started to throw, I was like, ‘You know what? Let’s just go for it.’ If it’s a ball, hopefully I don’t swing. It was a good pitch to do it on."

It's no secret the Pirates' offense has been in need of a boost over these past couple weeks, and Reyonlds' performance has breathed some life into the group.

"It instills belief," Shelton said. "It instills confidence. He's our best hitter. When your best hitter gets hot, it takes pressure off everyone else to do things too, and everybody else kind of slides into their comfort zone a little bit, and that's important. He's swung the bat so well in August, he's done a really nice job."

• Zach Thompson was used as a reliever in the eighth and continued his second-half struggles, getting charged with two earned runs on three hits and a walk while only getting one out.

Shelton said postgame that Thompson could be used in different roles besides starter going forward, saying it was a deployment decision, not necessarily one made to manage his innings. The hybrid role of a multi-inning reliever was brought up as a possibility.

With that said, Thompson still could potentially start Sunday depending on if the Pirate want to give Mitch Keller some time off ahead of his next scheduled start after showing shoulder fatigue and lower fastball velocities Tuesday.

• Factoid of the night: Reynolds' second home run was the 3,000th in PNC Park's history. 

"It’s pretty crazy to be a little part of that history," Reynolds said.

• With the win, the Pirates are now 46-72 on the season and 7-18 since the All-Star break. Their .390 winning percentage on the year puts them on pace for a 63-99 final record. They will need to go 17-27 down the stretch to avoid their second consecutive 100-loss season.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 10-day injured list: 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes (strained mid-back muscle)

• 15-day injured list: RHP David Bednar (low back), LHP Dillon Peters (left elbow inflammation)

• 60-day injured list: RHP Yerry De Los Santos (lat), OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), RHP Blake Cederlind (elbow), RHP Nick Mears (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Tucupita Marcano, LF
2. Kevin Newman, SS
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Ben Gamel, DH
5. Rodolfo Castro, 3B
6. Oneil Cruz, SS
7. Greg Allen, RF
8. Bligh Madris, 1B
9. Tyler Heineman, C

And for Alex Cora's Red Sox:

1. Tommy Pham, LF
2. Rafael Devers, 3B
3. Xander Bogarts, SS
4. Alex Verdugo, RF
5. J.D. Martinez, DH
6. Christian Arroyo, 2B
7. Reese McGuire, C
8. Bobby Dalbec, 1B
9. Jarren Duran, CF

THE SCHEDULE

From the Red Sox to the Reds. Cincy's ball club is coming to town for a three-game weekend series. Bryse Wilson (2-7, 5.93) will take on Graham Ashcraft (5-3, 3.96) at 7:05 p.m. Chris Halicke will be at the ballpark for this one.

THE CONTENT

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