PITTSBURGH _ The Pirates looked to be close to down and out late in Sunday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
After taking an early, 2-0 lead, they had seen things flip on them. In the bottom of the seventh, trailing 4-3, they'd gotten the tying run to third base with one out, but couldn't drive him in.
In the eighth, outfielder Cole Tucker singled with one out, bringing up left fielder Bryan Reynolds, but Reynolds struck out looking. That left it up to Gregory Polanco, the .120-hitting veteran. If the Pirates didn't score in the eighth, they'd have to do it in the ninth against Brewers closer Josh Hader, one of the best in the league.
Hader had to watch the deciding moment in this one, though. As he stood in the bullpen, Polanco swung on a 1-1 pitch from right-hander David Phelps, and launched it 419 feet to right center field, scoring Tucker and himself to take a 5-4 lead. Right-hander Richard Rodriguez came on to close it out for the Pirates in the ninth, giving the Pirates their first series sweep of the season.
Just as they did in their 12-5 win Saturday, the Pirates started early. Infielder Erik Gonzalez ripped a double off the right field wall to lead off the bottom of the first. A few pitches later, second baseman Adam Frazier singled him in.
In the second, the Pirates manufactured a run, as Polanco singled, stole second base, advanced to third on a fielder's choice then scored on a single to left from center fielder Jarrod Dyson.
With that, things seemed to be developing similarly to the first two Pirate wins of the series, on Friday and Saturday. With that, right-hander JT Brubaker was cruising as the Pirates' starting pitcher through the first few innings. By the fourth inning, however, it was clear it wouldn't be completely smooth sailing.
Colin Moran was run into while playing first base on the very first at-bat of the game. He stayed in for a while, but in the top of the third, he was replaced in the lineup by outfielder Cole Tucker and was checked for a concussion. In the bottom of the third, shortstop Kevin Newman exited, too, suffering what the Pirates called lower right abdominal muscle discomfort after striking out. He was replaced by JT Riddle.
So, then, the Pirates offense was forced to function without two of their hottest hitters in the lineup, and for most of the middle innings, they struggled. Riddle and Reynolds manufactured a run to pull within one in the sixth, but beyond that, there wasn't much doing.
At the same time, Brubaker began to falter, allowing a run in the fourth and another in the fifth before exiting. In the sixth, right-hander Geoff Hartlieb allowed a two-run bomb to Justin Smoak to make it a 4-2 game in the top of the sixth.
With that, the Pirates needed Polanco in the eighth, and the longest-tenured Pirate showed up in a big way. His homer moves the Pirates to 7-17 season, a bad mark, but maintains their three-game winning streak for the time being, as the Pirates will now hit the road for an eight-game road trip.
