Pirates/MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates
Post-Game Buzz After initial success, Gregory Polanco went through his rough patch that most young hitters go through and now he’s starting to figure things out.
Polanco with a four RBI game Thursday night in the Pirates 7-2 win over the Marlins, provided a lethal combination at the top of the order with Josh Harrison tonight in Pittsburgh’s 2-1 over San Diego.
While Harrison’s hot bat continued, going 3-3 with a triple and extending his hitting streak to 12 games, Polanco also had a three hit night, going 3-4 with a double, RBI, stolen base and scored the game winning run.
Following Harrison’s leadoff triple in the first, Polanco drove a single to right, scoring Harrison. Polanco than stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error from Padres catcher Rence Rivera. Ike Davis would scored Polanco on a sacrifice fly as the Pirates countered the Padres one run, first inning with two runs of their own and that’s all they needed on the night. We saw a little bit of everything from Polanco tonight.
Polanco has looked like a different hitter in the last 10 days as he has been ripping the ball. Polanco has reached base safely in nine straight games, and has five multi-hit games during that span.
Josh Harrison sustaining his All-Star caliber play is even getting some of his critics to come on board that he’s for real but it’s been a mystery since mid-July on what direction Gregory Polanco was heading in.
Polanco is showing signs of being that impact bat the Pirates need down the stretch with there being little signs it’s going to come from Staring Marte this season.
Stepping up in Andrew McCutchen’s absence, Harrison/Polanco are batting a combined .452 during the four games without McCutchen.
“We’re all here to step up,” pitcher Vance Worley said of the Pirates after his excellent outing vs the Padres.
Josh Harrison over his last eight games: 16-35 (.457) 1 HR, 5 doubles, 2 triples
Gregory Polanco over his last eight games: 13-32 (.406) 5 doubles
