Pirates Beat Brewers For Second Straight Win

PITTSBURGH — Derek Shelton has made it a point to keep reminding Gregory Polanco of all the little things the Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder is doing right in the batter’s box during a season-long slump. Keep at it, the first-year manager stressed to the longest-tenured player on his team. You’re on the right track. A track Polanco believes he can actually see after his first multihit game in 15 months propelled the Pirates to a 12-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. Polanco hit his third homer of the year and also doubled as Pittsburgh won back-to-back games for the first time since last September. The 28-year-old turned on a Josh Lindblom offering in the fourth and sent it to the seats in right-center field to put the Pirates ahead to stay. Pittsburgh collected 14 hits for the second straight day, including a season-best nine for extra bases. Adam Frazier and Jacob Stallings both homered and drove in three runs. Colin Moran doubled three times, and Erik Gonzalez chipped in a two-run double in the seventh as the Pirates batted around against Milwaukee’s suddenly vulnerable bullpen. Derek Holland (1-1) surrendered one run in five innings in his 300th major league appearance. He allowed four hits in his first victory as a starter since April 9, 2019, for San Francisco. The charismatic left-hander also gave a postgame shoutout to his followers on the live-streaming service Twitch for their support.