J.T. Brubaker bounced back from a couple of subpar starts to throw six shutout innings as the Pirates beat Colorado, 7-0, in the first game of a doubleheader. The win stopped their six-game losing streak and also gave them their first shutout of the season.
Brubaker wasn’t in trouble much. Two runners reached in the first with two out, but he got Charlie Blackmon on a line out. The only other time the Rockies managed anything resembling a rally was in the sixth. They loaded the bases with one out, but Brubaker got two fly outs without a run scoring. He came out having allowed just four hits and a walk. He fanned five. Chasen Shreve finished up in the seventh, with two strikeouts and just one runner reaching on an error.
The offense saw a lot of pitches and forced Jon Gray out early, as he walked three and threw 72 pitches in three innings. The Bucs were at their deadball-era finest in the second, putting up three runs on two ground ball singles, two walks — one to Brubaker — and a force out and a sacrifice fly.
A bit more conventional offense produced four runs against the Rockies’ bullpen. In the fifth, Ben Gamel singled and Bryan Reynolds belted his sixth home run of the season. Off a breaking ball! Gregory Polanco followed that with a triple and later scored on a fielder’s choice. The call was disputed, but Polanco made a good slide to get his foot in and make the play close, whether he was really out or not. The final run came in the sixth when Adam Frazier led off with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Polanco.
Everybody in the lineup had one hit except Polanco, who had two, and Wilmer Difo and Brubaker, who had none but drew three walks between them.
