Brubaker rebounds to deliver Game 1 gem

PITTSBURGH -- JT Brubaker is back on track.

The Pirates’ right-hander allowed 12 runs over his previous two starts entering Game 1 of Saturday’s seven-inning twin bill against the Rockies at PNC Park. But Brubaker threw up zeros for six innings to fuel a 7-0 win and snap a six-game losing streak for the Pirates.

• Box score

Brubaker began the season with a 2.58 ERA in his first seven starts before his two recent stumbles. The home run ball especially hurt him in that pair of outings, as nine of the 12 runs on his line came via homers. But Brubaker wasn’t afraid to attack the Rockies’ lineup Saturday, limiting it to just one extra-base hit -- a double from Ryan McMahon, who entered the day with 13 homers (third-most in the National League).

“He had given up some homers in the last few and just left some balls over the middle of the plate,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Really the only ball he left over the middle of the plate was a 2-2 changeup in the sixth [to Raimel Tapia]. Other than that, he pitched on the edges.”

The slider was effective again, which has been a trend this season. Brubaker drew seven whiffs on the offering, marking the fifth time this season he’s done so in 10 starts this season. He only accomplished that twice in 11 starts in 2020.

Shelton attributes that in part to the effects of Brubaker’s improved arsenal as a whole. That includes marked drops in the weighted on-base average from 2020 to ‘21 against his four-seam fastball (.518 to .319) and curveball (.210 to .131) as he’s upped the usage of the former and decreased the latter.

“I just think his mix and then the execution of his mix was probably about as good as we’ve seen his last three [or] four starts,” Shelton said.

Brubaker afforded the visitors only two hits through five innings before finally being tested in the sixth. The changeup to Tapia went for a single, and McMahon slugged the double right before C.J. Cron was hit by a pitch to load the bases. However, Brubaker escaped the jam with two fly outs to post his first scoreless outing of the season.

“When he got off track, he got himself on really quick, which was really good to see,” Shelton said.

With the game being a seven-inning affair and Brubaker at 89 pitches, there was an outside shot at the right-hander going the distance for his first complete game shutout. But Shelton said “he worked hard” to get through the 19-pitch sixth inning and felt it would be best to get a reliever in to close it out with such a big cushion. Brubaker has only thrown more than 89 pitches in one start this season (93 on May 5).

“I told him I wanted it,” Brubaker said, “but I knew his mind was made up, and that was fine with me.”

Whether six or seven innings, the bounceback effort by Brubaker is a welcome sign for a rotation that has struggled to limit offense recently. The shutout performance snapped a streak of 11 games in which Pirates pitchers allowed four or more runs.