Pirates bounce back from sluggish opener to close out another series

CINCINNATI -- From the middle of May and into early June, the Pirates struggled to find much success in the face of a series finale. They dropped the final game of six consecutive series -- despite winning three of them -- before finally experiencing a taste of victory in their Colorado finale a week and a half ago. Since that trip to Denver, the Pirates have now captured a series-culminating victory on three separate occasions after earning a 6-1 win over the Reds Wednesday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.

They struggled mightily, especially from a pitching perspective, in their series-opening loss Monday night before turning the page with a 9-5 win on Tuesday and the five-run triumph to close things out ahead of an off day and a weekend series in Atlanta. 

“We bounced back really well," Derek Shelton said. "I think this club is resilient. We didn’t play well the first day here. We had good at-bats, but we didn’t throw the ball well. To be able to bounce back and to win two in a division series was really important for us, and I’m proud of our group.” 

All of the Pirates' top contributors were in the lineup Wednesday, as the group culminated a series against the Reds in which they scored 20 runs on 30 hits through three games. That proved to be a six-run improvement and a two-hit increase when comparing that sample to their recent six-game homestand against the Reds and Rays. 

There has been plenty of outside criticism regarding Shelton's lineup construction at times this season, especially in games where a series win is up for grabs. But as of late, series finale lineups have included the likes of Andrew McCutchen, Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Rowdy Tellez and Nick Gonzales. The only exception was Sunday against the Rays when McCutchen and Gonzales were held out of the lineup in a two-run loss. 

On this particular day, contributions were gathered from just about everyone, including a majority of the aforementioned key cogs: 

• McCutchen hit his 11th homer of the season with this 422-foot shot to straightaway center off of Reds starter Graham Ashcraft in the fifth inning: 

• Reynolds only had one hit, but this first-inning single was significant enough to stretch his league-best hitting streak to 23 games: 

• Tellez, who is hitting .362 with a .965 OPS in 18 games this month, homered as part of a two-hit performance: 

• And while Gonzales added a hit and a run scored to help contribute to a third straight 10-hit output, a struggling Connor Joe reached three times and had two hits and Jason Delay, a player not exactly known for his ability with the bat, delivered a pair of doubles, including one that plated two runs in the sixth: 

In all, only two starters -- Cruz and a scuffling Ke'Bryan Hayes -- finished without a hit in a win that once again put the Pirates two games under that elusive .500 mark. With that, they have now taken five of the seven full series they've played in this month, capturing two of three from the Dodgers, Twins, Rockies and Reds (twice), and dropping two of three at the hands of the Cardinals and Rays. 

"We have a long season left," Tellez said, "but anytime you can take two of three in the division is always nice."

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