PITTSBURGH — JT Brubaker has not looked like himself recently, the Pirates right-hander allowing 12 runs over a pair of starts in St. Louis and Atlanta. A bright spot in Pittsburgh’s rotation prior to that point, those two outings alone accounted for nearly half the earned runs Brubaker has allowed this season (23).
With his team looking to avoid what would have been a season-long, seven-game losing streak, Brubaker got back on track at a key time, delivering six scoreless innings to beat the Rockies, 7-0, at PNC Park in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
The performance was big for the Pirates, who were able to preserve their bullpen for the second game.
“Really efficient and commanded the zone,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Brubaker, who earned his team-high fourth win. “When he got off track, he got himself back on really quick, which was really good to see. Came right out and attacked.”
At 89 pitches through six, Brubaker could have conceivably finished the game, although Shelton said a busy sixth inning convinced him to turn things over to the bullpen, which entered Saturday’s twin bill sporting a 2.40 ERA over its last nine home games dating back to May 11.
“It’s his decision,” Brubaker said of Shelton. “I told him I wanted it, but I knew his mind was made up. That was fine with me.”
Besides Brubaker’s strong start, the Pirates in the fifth got a two-run home run from Bryan Reynolds, who sent a first-pitch slider from Rockies reliever Jhoulys Chacin over the wall in right-center for his team-high sixth.
Pittsburgh scored three runs in the second and fifth innings, their first three-run outbursts since May 19. Seven different Pirates scored runs, while a half-dozen contributed RBIs.
“It always feels good when you win, especially when you score a lot of runs like that,” said Gregory Polanco, who went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored. “It's been tough for us, and we will continue to push.”
The most trouble Brubaker faced came in the sixth, when he hit first baseman C.J. Cron to load the bases with one out. Brubaker wiggled out of the jam by getting a couple fly balls to right field.
On the first, it was surprising that center fielder Garrett Hampson declined to test Polanco’s arm, although the Rockies were also trailing by six at the time.
“He did a nice job,” Shelton said of Polanco. “That first ball, one, he went a long way. Two, he’s got wind and rain right in his face. Three, he comes up and makes a good throw, keeps us there. That’s important because if that doesn’t happen, ‘Bru’ probably doesn’t last through that inning.”
The win helped the Pirates (19-31) win for just the second time in their past 11 tries, as Brubaker allowed four hits and a walk and striking out five. The Rockies hit just two balls off the Pirates started that had an exit velocity of more than 95 mph.
Converting key opportunities has been an issue for the Pirates of late, a reason they had lost 20 of 26 after a 12-11 start, but they flipped that around in the third inning.
With runners on the corners after a Wilmer Difo leadoff walk and Cole Tucker’s single, Michael Perez lashed a 3-1 fastball up the middle to score a run.
Rockies starter Jon Gray walked Brubaker to load the bases before Tucker scored on Adam Frazier’s grounder to second, which Rockies Cron nearly threw into the outfield. The Pirates added a third run on Ben Gamel’s sacrifice fly.
For a team that has been struggling to score runs, the bottom of the order adding offense was a welcomed change.
“To be able to do that, that’s important for us,” Shelton said.
Brubaker encountered some trouble in the first, the result of a single from Colorado second baseman Ryan McMahon and a two-out walk to Cron. However, Brubaker got right fielder Charlie Blackmon to line out to Difo at third to end the inning.
A quick second helped Brubaker find his rhythm. His best pitch of the afternoon might’ve been a 2-2 sinker to Hampson, a called third strike with a ton of late movement that ended the inning.
Brubaker retired nine in a row before Blackmon beat the shift with a single the opposite way in the fourth. No issue, though. Shortstop Brendan Rodgers bounced out to short to end the frame.
The Pirates rallied for another run after Reynolds’ home run in the fifth. Polanco tripled and scored on a fielder’s choice from Tucker.
“Really all my pitches,” Brubaker said of what was working for him. “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.”
