PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates spent a good portion of the first half of the season trying — and failing — to find any sort of traction.
Once they’d figure out one problem, another would pop up. If it wasn’t the bullpen, it was the mess left by outfielder Starling Marte’s 80-game steroid suspension. Or the back end of the starting rotation. Or the massive funk that baffled star center fielder Andrew McCutchen.
Two hot weeks have changed the discussion dramatically.
Gregory Polanco homered, Chris Stewart added three hits and the surging Pirates completed a fourgame sweep of the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers with a 4-2 victory on Thursday.
The Pirates have won 11 of 13 and moved within three games of Milwaukee in a division that’s tightened up since the All-Star break. The Brewers have lost five consecutive, cutting their lead to one game over the idle Chicago Cubs.
“When you’ve got guys showing up and stars showing up like they did this homestand, good things are going to happen,” said McCutchen, who provided some insurance with an RBI single in the fifth off Jimmy Nelson (8-5). “When we play our best baseball, we can compete with anybody.”
The Pirates focused on pressuring Milwaukee’s defense during the series, forcing the issue whenever it had the chance. They scored three of their four runs by taking risks that paid off beautifully. Adam Frazier singled with two outs in the second and scored on Stewart’s single to right. With the game tied at 2-2 in the fifth, Stewart led off with a single then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Stewart chugged home from second on a two-out single to right by Josh Harrison. Harrison went to second when right fielder Domingo Santana’s throw missed the cutoff. Harrison then scored on a flare to right by McCutchen.
METS 3, CARDINALS 2 Cardinals pitcher Trevor Rosenthal was late covering first base on a grounder by Jose Reyes that turned into a game-winning single with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting host New York over St. Louis.
DIAMONDBACKS 12, REDS 2 Jake Lamb hit two three-run home runs and Patrick Corbin pitched into the eighth inning during an emergency start Thursday, leading visiting Arizona to a victory over Cincinnati.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 8, RED SOX 6 Ryan Goins hit a two-run single, Justin Smoak homered twice, and Toronto defeated host Boston. Dominic Leone (2-0) earned the victory.
ROYALS 16, TIGERS 4 Brandon Moss drove in four runs, Mike Moustakas had three RBI and host Kansas City routed error-prone Detroit. Eric Hosmer and Whit Merrifield homered for the Royals, who moved within 1½ games of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central.
ORIOLES 9, RANGERS 7 Jonathan Schoop and Adam Jones both homered and drove in three runs, and host Baltimore rallied to beat Cole Hamels and Texas for a four-game sweep. Mark Trumbo and Chris Davis also went deep for the Orioles, who trailed 5-1 in the fifth inning before coming back to hand Hamels (4-1) his first loss in 10 starts this season.
Sports on 07/21/2017