Reynolds, back to driving ball from lower body, takes hitting streak deep

DENVER -- When Bryan Reynolds concluded the month of May, he was hitting just under the .250 mark and had just endured a 1-for-16 stretch over four games. Since the calendar turned to June, he's seemingly flipped a switch. 

A two-hit performance against the Blue Jays on June 1 served as a turning point for what has now become a 12-game hitting streak after Reynolds went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs in the Pirates' 5-2 win over the Rockies Friday night at Coors Field. 

It was Reynolds' second home run this month -- his first since that aforementioned June 1 date -- and ninth of the season that gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead and helped spark a three-home run night for the visitors:

"It felt good. Got a good pitch, put a good swing on it and it's nice when you hit one you're pretty sure is going to go," said Reynolds, who is hitting .340 (17 for 50) with his pair of homers and eight RBIs over his lengthy hitting streak that now includes five multi-hit games. 

This current stretch followed a month of May in which Reynolds hit .250 with a .695 OPS in over 100 at-bats. He was hitting .249 on the final day of May and now has his season average up to .265. 

"That's just the way baseball goes sometimes," Reynolds said. "Sometimes you're good, sometimes you're bad. I guess I'm just seeing the ball well right now." 

Reynolds, who entered Friday with the third-longest active hitting streak in Major League Baseball behind the Astros' Alex Bregman and the Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. (both at 14 games), added to his RBI total in the eighth inning after a leadoff double by Andrew McCutchen. With McCutchen on second, Reynolds put together one of the best at-bats of the night, fouling off six pitches -- including two at 100-plus mph -- from Rockies reliever Victor Vodnik. He ultimately concluded an 11-pitch at-bat with a run-scoring single on a 100.5 mph fastball on the outer third: 

"He got back into his legs," Derek Shelton said. "I think when we see Bryan get into his legs, you see really good things happen. In the at-bat where he got the base hit up the middle, he fouled off some tough pitches. Balls at 101 and then the changeup or split that he throws, you don't very many hitters who are able to foul off pitches and continue the at-bat like he did." 

In terms of demeanor and his consistent approach, Shelton doesn’t believe there’s a difference between the version of Reynolds that’s clicking and the one that goes through the inevitable struggles that come with a 162-game season. 

"That's the great thing about Bryan is he really never changes," Shelton said. "I think that's the sign of how professional he is, he stays the same regardless. You would never know where he's at in terms of if he's 1 for 16, or 15 for 16." 

While Reynolds' first-inning homer gave the Pirates an early cushion, it was surrendered in the fifth inning and regained on a 448-foot homer to center by McCutchen in the sixth: 

The solo shot was the longest McCutchen, who has now gone deep in four straight games at Coors Field, has ever hit during the Statcast Era. 

"I think the one thing we know about him is he can really hit. He controls the zone and does really good things," Shelton said of McCutchen. "It was a really big home run for us, but we're going to be hearing about that one now." 

Jack Suwinski, who has struggled mightily with 14 strikeouts in 24 at-bats since being recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis on June 4, followed the trend of long balls with his fourth homer in three straight trips to Coors Field. It was this two-run shot -- one that traveled 459 feet -- in the seventh that gave the Pirates some breathing room with a 4-1 advantage:

"It was huge. Cutch hammered two balls and we were all talking in the dugout, we thought Jack was going to hit a homer and he did," Reynolds said. "That was pretty exciting. Jack's a great player and hopefully today just jumpstarts everything." 

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