Monday, July 27, 2015
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH
Gregory Polanco got Gerrit Cole on track, and the ace right-hander took over from there.
Cole became the majors’ first 14-game winner, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday.
Cole (14-4) allowed one run and seven hits in 72/3 innings while improving to 3-1 with a 2.40 ERA in four July starts. The right-hander struck out eight and walked none.
He also became the first Pittsburgh pitcher with 14 wins before August since Dock Ellis in 1971.
“It’s been a collective effort to get the wins where they are,” Cole said.
Cole got a big assist from Polanco in the first after he left a pitch up to Bryce Harper and the All-Star lined it to the wall in right. Polanco fielded the ball as it caromed off the wall, and then sent a laser to second base that beat Harper and ended the inning.
“He did an excellent job of cleaning up that mistake and it just kind of set the tone,” Cole said. “We were going to play crisp defense, we were going to come at you and it was a nice way to start the game off.”
Danny Espinosa chased Cole with a single that put two runners on for Harper, who grounded out against left-hander Tony Watson. Mark Melancon picked up his major league-best 32nd save with a scoreless ninth.
“We had the opportunity but it just didn’t work out,” Nationals manager Matt Williams said.
Michael Taylor put Washington in front with a two-out homer in the third, but Pittsburgh responded with two runs in the bottom half. Polanco and Andrew McCutchen each had an RBI single against Joe Ross (2-3).
Neil Walker led off the fourth with his ninth home run, extending Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-1.