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Polanco's 1st career homer lifts Pirates past Fish

Jun 14, 2014 - 6:18 AM Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Things got wacky on Friday the 13th in Miami.

After the Pittsburgh Pirates' bullpen imploded, Gregory Polanco picked a good time to smack his first career home run.

Polanco hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 13th inning to cap his five-hit night as the Pirates defeated the Marlins, 8-6, in the opener of a three-game set.

The Pirates held a 6-2 lead entering the ninth, but their usually-reliable bullpen fell apart as Miami pushed across four runs to tie the score despite recording just one hit. Pittsburgh used three relievers, who combined to walk six in the frame.

Clint Barmes led off the 13th with a single off Mike Dunn (5-4) and after Jeanmar Gomez moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt, Polanco launched his blast into the seats in right-center.

"He hung a slider and I hit it," Polanco said of the homer.

Gomez (1-2) held the Marlins scoreless over the final four innings to earn the win.

Polanco also scored three runs, while Starling Marte cracked a two-run shot among his four hits and three runs scored for the Pirates, who have won four of their last five games.

Giancarlo Stanton belted a solo shot for Miami, which has dropped four of its last six on the heels of a four-game winning streak.

"That was a long battle," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "We kept fighting and kept battling."

Marcell Ozuna and Adeiny Hechavarria worked walks against Justin Wilson in the ninth before Jason Grilli came on with one out. He issued a free pass to Jeff Mathis to load the bases and Ed Lucas' RBI groundout brought home Ozuna to cut the deficit in half.

Rafael Furcal walked to re-load the bags and Reed Johnson lined a base hit into center to plate Hechavarria and Lucas and trim the gap to 6-5. Grilli intentionally walked Stanton to again fill the bases. Mark Melancon replaced Grilli and walked Casey McGehee to tie the game.

Melancon struck out Ozuna to finally end the frame.

Earlier, Pittsburgh opened the scoring with a two-run first. Polanco led off with a base hit and Marte launched his two-run shot into the netting in left.

Mathis' two-out RBI single into left center got the Marlins on the board in the second, but Andrew McCutchen's one-out, run-scoring base hit through the hole on the left side increased Pittsburgh's margin to 3-1.

Stanton belted his slicing solo blast into the seats in right-center to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the home third.

The Pirates surged ahead following a three-run fifth. Polanco and Marte led off with singles and after McCutchen flied out to right, both Polanco and Marte moved up a base on a Nathan Eovaldi wild pitch during Ike Davis' at-bat. Davis then roped a double down the right field line to bring them both home.

Dan Jennings came on for Eovaldi and walked Pedro Alvarez. Jordy Mercer then singled into shallow center to bring home Davis for a 6-2 Pirates cushion.

Game Notes

Jeff Locke struck out seven and allowed two runs on seven hits over eight innings in a no-decision for Pittsburgh, while Miami starter Eovaldi yielded six runs on 10 hits and one walk over 4 2/3 innings ... Stanton's homer was his 18th of the season ... Furcal made his season debut.