MILWAUKEE _ Pirates manager Clint Hurdle intended to give Gregory Polanco the night off Saturday, since he'd slipped into an 0-for-11 funk at bat. But with the bases loaded in the sixth and the pitcher up next, Hurdle beckoned Polanco from the bench and deployed him as a pinch-hitter.
Milwaukee Brewers reliever Blaine Boyer tested Polanco with four fastballs. Polanco walloped the fourth up the gap at Miller Park and cleared the bases with a double, the difference in the Pirates' 9-6 come-from-behind win, a game in which they clawed back from a four-run deficit.
The Pirates (66-61) will try for a four-game sweep Sunday. Already they have won three consecutive games in Milwaukee for the first time since the 2013 season. The Pirates drew even with the Miami Marlins, 1{ games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild-card spot.
Right-hander Jameson Taillon, the Pirates' most consistent starter since he arrived in June, was treated to the shortest start of his major league career. The Brewers banged up Taillon for five runs on seven hits and two walks, one intentional, in three innings. Hernan Perez homered twice.
A pair of pinch-hitters, John Jaso and Polanco, turned the tide, and the bullpen shut the door.
The Pirates staked Taillon to an early lead in the first when Starling Marte pulled a two-out RBI single down the left-field line. The Brewers answered loudly. They sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the inning and scored four runs on four hits, including the first of two Perez bombs.
Later, Perez led off the third with a scorched a 3-1 fastball over the wall in straightaway center.
Perhaps Perez had heard what Taillon told reporters after they last met in Milwaukee July 30. After Perez hit a three-run homer that day, Taillon said, "I'm pretty confident I owned him in the minor leagues. I don't know. Now is when it counts, and he's gotten me a couple times."
In Taillon's three starts against the Brewers, Perez is 5-for-7 with three home runs. And it was Perez who smoked a single off the back of Taillon's head July 19, knocking him flat on the mound.
The Pirates' five-run fourth began as a mess made by right-hander Jimmy Nelson, and ended with the visitors batting around. With one out, Adam Frazier singled. Jordy Mercer and Eric Fryer walked, the latter spending nine pitches. Hurdle lifted Taillon for Jaso, the pinch-hitter who dumped an RBI single into right field. Josh Harrison's bloop single scored two more runs.
Josh Bell grounded out, tying the game 5-5. Andrew McCutchen's infield single put the Pirates ahead. Nelson finally was lifted after throwing 42 pitches in the inning. He allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks in 32/3 innings. Neither starter survived the fourth.
The Pirates' short-lived lead disappeared with left-hander Jeff Locke's first delivery. Tyler Cravy, the reliever who replaced Nelson, roped a solo shot into the Brewers bullpen. The Cravy crush was his first hit in 11 major league at-bats, and it was the first run Locke has allowed as a reliever.
Hurdle's strategic double-switch had put Locke batting fourth and Sean Rodriguez ninth, so Rodriguez led off the sixth with a sharp single to center. Bell doubled the other way. The Brewers intentionally walked McCutchen. Polanco entered and pulverized the three-run double.
In the end, Locke (9-7) took the victory, tying fellow long reliever Juan Nicasio as the team's wins leaders. Nicasio took over in the sixth and struck out five over three scoreless innings. The right-hander has shined as a reliever, posting a 2.25 ERA over 36 innings since moving to the bullpen. With closer Tony Watson unavailable, right-hander Neftali Feliz notched the save.
Mercer ended the game by bare-handing a grounder and throwing out Ryan Braun, the would-be tying run, at first. The play was reviewed, but the umpires upheld the original call.
