Break Out Game Hoping to Turn Tides for Newman/Polanco
After taking a sweep in Arizona, it looked like things were about to go really bad for the Pirates. They were about to take on the best team in baseball and had already lost four games in a row. However, the Pirates have turned the tide and taken the first two games of the series, as they look for their first sweep of the year on Sunday. However, Saturday night they took it to the next level as they pounded out a season-high 16 hits in a 10-2 win over the Giants. Of the nine guys in the Pirates lineup, six had multi-hit games and every starter except Ke'Bryan Hayes and Wil Crowe each got at least one hit. However, two guys in the lineup performed above and beyond, and they are hoping it can be a breakout game to get them back on track.
Kevin Newman and Gregory Polanco have both been struggling during the 2021 season, hitting .207 and .204 respectively. Both had breakout games last night driving in six of the teams 10 runs in the win. Newman went 4-5 with four singles and three RBI and Polanco went 3-4 with a home run and three RBI. Both players raised their averages to .216 and .209 and both looked like they were seeing the ball very well. For a team that has had its share of struggles at the bottom of the lineup, the Pirates need these two to start turning things around, and hopefully, this is the game that begins that turnaround. Today, we look back at both players' big days and whether or not this can be a big turnaround.
Gregory Polanco (3-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
The more productive of the two hitters last night was outfielder Gregory Polanco, who finished the day 3-5 with a home run and three RBI. He got the scoring started early on and continued to contribute throughout the game. In three of his five at-bats, he came to the plate with runners on base and came through two out of those three times. He got the scoring started right away in the first inning when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out. He ended up lifting a fly ball to left field, and brought home Adam Frazier on a sacrifice fly, and gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead. It may not be exactly the result that Polanco wanted, but it was enough to get the offense started.
His second at-bat saw him come to the plate in a 1-1 game with Bryan Reynolds standing on second. Once again, Polanco came through sending a single to right and giving the Pirates a 2-1 lead. The first time he came to the plate with the bases empty was with one out in the top of the fifth. After taking the first pitch for a ball, Polanco got a four-seam fastball center-cut right down the middle of the plate. He launched it over the right-center field wall for his 11th home run of the season to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead. He ended the day with two strikeouts, but the damage had already been done as Polanco helped lead the Pirates to their second straight victory over the Giants.
When Polanco went on the Injured List with hip pain on July 6th, many thought we had been Polanco's last game in Pittsburgh. However, he returned to the lineup on July 17th and has looked better than ever since coming back. In seven games since returning from the IL, Polanco is hitting .304 (7-23) with two home runs and six RBI. In an interview with AT&T Sportsnet's Robby Incmikoski last night, Polanco said that he has been focusing on not hitting the ball so hard and just making contact and seeing what happens. It has seemingly worked in the short term, as he has three extra-base hits and has put the ball in play 78.3% of the time, and has struck out six times in the last seven games. He is trying to be a more productive member of the lineup, and hopefully, he has figured it out and can be a productive middle-of-the-order bat again for the Pirates.
Kevin Newman (4-5, 3 RBI)
While Kevin Newman's numbers may not be as glamorous as Polanco's he still had a big day at the plate. He went 4-5, leading the Pirates in hits on the day, and drove in three RBI on the day. All four hits were singles, but they came in big situations to help lead the Pirates to victory. After hitting an MLB record .606 this Spring Training, Newman hasn't been able to find that same level of success during the regular season. Newman entered play last night hitting .207 but is performing as the best defensive shortstop in all of baseball. The Pirates don't need him to be hitting .300 like he did during his rookie season, but seeing him get up to the .240-.250 range would be a big plus for Newman's future.
Newman started his four-hit day right from the get-go with a single to lead off the second inning. He was stranded and added a lineout in the third to put him at 1-2 through two at-bats. His first RBI chance came in the fifth inning following Polanco's home run when the Giants brought in reliever John Brebbia. After working a 2-2 count, Newman greeted the new reliever by promptly singling into center field and bringing home John Nogowski and Ben Gamel to make it a 6-1 game. He added a leadoff single in the eighth inning to go 3-4 and came home to score the team's seventh run on Michael Perez's first career triple. Newman's third and final RBI came in the ninth inning against infielder Mike Tauchman when he lined an RBI single scoring Nogowski and bringing the game to its eventual 10-2 final score.
For Newman, the 2021 season has not been a fun one at the plate, as he just can't get anything going. He has had 17 multi-hit games this season, but yesterday was the first time he had more than two hits on a day. Newman was one of the best leadoff hitters in the league during his rookie season, but the problem is he hasn't been making hard contact at any point. He has one of the lowest hard-hit rates in the league at 24.6% and has never had a hard-hit rate over 28% in his career. During his rookie season, Newman was known for dropping bloop hits into the outfield, and teams have made adjustments to eliminate this opportunity. However, Newman had a couple of hard-hit balls in last night's game and is hoping that can propel him to seeing the ball better and getting his batting average up.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (38-60) look for their first sweep of the 2021 season when they take on the San Francisco Giants (61-37) today at 4:05 pm. JT Brubaker (4-9, 4.68) looks to break out of this little funk he has been in as he takes the mound for the Pirates against Alex Wood (8-3, 3.77) for the Giants. You can watch the game live on AT&T Sportsnet or listen on 93.7 The Fan.
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