Gregory Polanco's 3-hit game propels Pirates past Jameson Taillon, Yankees

Mar. 7—The Pittsburgh Pirates were scheduled to face one of their former aces when they played the New York Yankees on Saturday before a forecast for rain caused a change to the starting pitchers.

Instead of Gerrit Cole, they got Jameson Taillon.

The 2010 first-round pick, once expected to anchor the Pirates starting rotation, pitched against his former team for the first time since being traded to the Yankees for four prospects in January.

Taillon allowed two hits and recorded four strikeouts over two scoreless innings before the Pirates rallied for a 3-2 victory in their Grapefruit League game at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla. The start of the game was delayed 75 minutes by rain.

"It was a little strange," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "I'm happy that he's back healthy, happy that he threw the ball and walked off the mound healthy. We've talked numerous times about caring for people and the person, and I don't feel that there's many better people than Jamo, so I'm happy to see him. A little bit of mixed feelings, but I'm happy for him and happy for us with how everything has turned out so far."

Of Taillon's 39 pitches against nine batters, 24 went for strikes. It was Taillon's second outing this spring after missing most of 2019 with a right elbow injury and all of last season following Tommy John surgery.

"I've said everything I need to say about the Pirates organization. I hold them in such high regard and love so many people there," Taillon said. "I was like, 'I'm coming here, getting my two innings of work in,' but then you start catching up with guys and start to see familiar faces and it definitely made it a little emotional to see all the guys. It's super exciting to be here and see them.

"For me, I was excited in a good way to pitch against these guys. I wanted to show them that the work that they invested and energy and time has paid off and I'm healthy and ready to contribute to this team."

After Jay Bruce homered to right-center off Cody Ponce to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the first, Taillon retired the side in order by striking out Dustin Fowler swinging and Bryan Reynolds looking before getting Colin Moran to line out to left. Taillon was efficient, throwing nine of his 12 pitches for strikes.

In the second, Todd Frazier and Gregory Polanco hit back-to-back singles off Taillon before he got Erik Gonzalez to pop foul to first and struck out Anthony Alford on three pitches. But Taillon walked Michael Perez to load the bases for Kevin Kramer, who went down swinging at a full-count, 93 mph four-seam fastball to end the inning.

Polanco went 3 for 3 with three RBIs, hitting a two-run single in the third and a leadoff homer in the fifth to boost his batting average to .455 (5 for 11) with three extra-base hits, a stolen base and eight RBIs in four games this spring. Polanco was one of two Pirates to get a hit off Taillon.

"It's really important for me right now, because the last two years, the last two spring trainings, it hasn't been about getting ready for the season. It was trying to be healthy — not thinking about baseball, but thinking about my health first," said Polanco, who has dealt with knee and shoulder injuries. "So this season, I'm thinking, 'I'm healthy.' So in my mind, I took that out of the way. So now my mind is focused on baseball only. Just to be ready, seeing pitchers, seeing the machine — all that. Just baseball, not talking about my bat. I just thank God that my bat is good right now and my leg's not hurting, my shoulder, everything."

The Pirates took a 2-1 lead in the third when Reynolds singled off Jhoulys Chacin and advanced to third on Moran's double. Chacin hit Frazier with a pitch to load the bases for Polanco, whose grounder to right scored Reynolds and Moran.

Polanco hit a first-pitch homer to center for a 3-1 lead in the fifth. Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier homered off Braeden Ogle in the sixth to cut it to 3-2.

Ponce got the start in place of Mitch Keller, who threw 39 pitches over two innings in a live batting practice/simulated game. Carson Fulmer replaced Ponce in the second and struck out three of the six batters he faced in two scoreless innings to get the victory.

The game also marked the Pirates debut of Dustin Fowler, a former Yankees prospect. Fowler, acquired from the A's, batted leadoff as the designated hitter and went 1 for 3 with a single.

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .