It has been a unique 24 hours for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Yesterday evening it was announced that the longest tenured member of the team, Gregory Polanco, had been released from the team. However, he was in the lineup tonight when the team returned to PNC Park after a six-game road trip. Even though Polanco had a rough night at the plate, the team would plate four runs in the seventh and eighth inning to pick up a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Arizona got the scoring started on a Daulton Varsho solo home run in the second inning. Pittsburgh would bounce back to tie the game in the fourth when Jacob Stallings hit an RBI double to left to drive home Colin Moran. A big fifth inning by the Diamondbacks looked to put this game out of reach. Ketel Marte hit a single to right to bring in his team’s second run of the night. Later in the inning Christian Walker would come to the plate with the bases loaded, and drive them all in on a single to right center.
Wil Crowe was charged with all five of the Arizona runs on the night. He would pitch 4.2 innings, giving up eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Lucky for him his offense had his back from the fifth inning on. In the fifth Bryan Reynolds would drive home Ben Gamel with a groundout to short. The big inning of the night would be the seventh.
It all started when Yoshi Tsutsugo hit a solo home run to right to bring the Buccos within two runs of Arizona. Reynolds drove in his second run of the night with a triple to right center. The Pirates would then tie the game on a throwing error by Asdrubal Cabrera, which allowed Reynolds to score. In the eighth it would be a groundout by Ke’Bryan Hayes that brought in Kevin Newman for what would be the game winning run.
While the offense battled back for the win, the bullpen did the job to make sure the Diamondbacks did not increase their lead. Chasen Shreve would finish off the fifth inning before pitching a scoreless sixth. The seventh would belong to Chad Kuhl, who has been pitching out of the pen since returning from the COVID-19 list. Anthony Banda earned his second win of the year after striking out the side in the eighth. The save would go to David Bednar for getting the final three outs of the ninth.
Much needed win for Pittsburgh after being swept by Arizona in July. It appears for now that the saga surrounding Polanco is over for the remainder of the season. I do not imagine anyone will pick him up off waivers and see the team buying out his contract at the end of the season. For now, these teams will lock up again tomorrow night in game two of this three game series.
Record vs. Diamondbacks: 1-3
Record vs. N.L. West: 10-21
Record at Home: 25-35
Overall Record: 45-80
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
