Pirates notebook: Gregory Polanco saves shutout with strong defensive play

Of all people to save the shutout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, it was right fielder Gregory Polanco — often a lightning rod for his defense.

In the sixth inning of the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park, Polanco made a play that prevented a run from scoring in the 7-0 win in the first game.

With the bases loaded, Charlie Blackmon popped up to shallow right field. Polanco called off second baseman Adam Frazier to make the catch and made a one-hop throw to the plate that prevented Garrett Hampson from scoring from third base. Polanco then caught a Brendan Rodgers fly ball to right for the final out of the inning.

“That’s why I called Frazier off. I was like, ‘I got it! I got it!’ because I’ve got the better angle,” said Polanco, who went 2 for 3 with a triple in the 7-0 win. “If Frazier caught that ball, he might go home. So I just went ‘I got it! I got it!’ because I had the better angle to home plate, so I can keep the runner on third.”

Polanco has a history of misplays in right field, but Pirates manager Derek Shelton has been impressed with how much better Polanco is moving this season and was effusive in his praise of that play.

“One, he went a long way. Two, he’s got wind and rain right in his face. Three, he comes up and makes a good throw, keeps us there,” Shelton said. “That’s important because if that doesn’t happen, (starter JT Brubaker) probably doesn’t last through that inning.”

Chasing Bonds

When Frazier sent Austin Gomber’s first pitch into the right-field seats for a leadoff home run in the second game, it was his 10th career leadoff home run.

That tied Frazier with Al Martin for second-most leadoff homers in Pirates history. Frazier has two home runs this season, 37 in his six-year major league career.

“Yeah, it was big for the momentum, especially coming off of the Game 1 win,” Frazier said. “Jump back on them. I think that helped a lot. As far as the history stuff, I guess it’s pretty cool. Hopefully, I can add some more. I don’t really get caught up in that. I’m trying to put a good swing on the ball, and hopefully we can more to that total, man.”

Frazier thought he trailed only Andrew McCutchen for most leadoff homers in club history, so he was surprised to learn that Barry Bonds ranks first, with 20 leadoff homers.

“OK, 20. So I need 10 more,” Frazier said, a bit stunned. “I barely have 20 career homers.”

Stallings shows speed

Perhaps the Pirates’ biggest leadoff moment came in the sixth inning of Game 2, when catcher Jacob Stallings roped one over the outstretched glove of Rockies center fielder Yonathan Daza for a triple.

It was the first triple of Stallings’ major league career and his first since 2019, when he hit one at Triple-A Indianapolis. Stallings hit six triples in the minors but isn’t exactly known for his speed on the base paths.

“I said the other day, if you stay around long enough, you see things you’ve never seen before,” Shelton said, referring to Will Craig’s epic error on a rundown against the Cubs. “We’ve never seen something like that. So he’s got a (stolen) bag (in spring training) and a triple this year. I would have put money against both of those if we were betting at the beginning of the year.”