Chase Shugart entered tonight's game against the Mets at Citi Field with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and the Pirates up by two.

 It didn't take long to escape: 

José Azocar, a .278 hitter, hit a first-pitch sweeper to center field. Shugart, Tanner Rainey, David Bednar and Dennis Santana worked 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to secure a 4-0 win and the Pirates' first shutout since April 25. 

"It's just two outs, right hander up there, my job is to get that guy out," Shugart said. "Just fill up the zone, trust the defense. I feel like that was a key part of my outing tonight was just trying to fill up the zone and letting the defense work." 

Shugart worked 2 1/3 innings, only giving up a single to Pete Alonso, who was thrown out by Alexander Canario trying to stretch it into a double. Shugart hasn't allowed an earned run in 13 of his 16 appearances since being recalled on April 15. He lowered his ERA to 2.89 after carrying a sub-2.00 ERA into May. 

"Last year, for me, with the Red Sox, I was working on offspeed and getting ahead of guys. That's what I struggled with and that's whenever I ran into trouble," Shugart said. "So getting ahead and attacking hitters from the get go, instead of dancing around, getting 2-0, that's when I dig myself a hole." 

Shugart's sweeper, one of his two offspeed pitches, is his most-used pitch (35.7%) this season. He threw it four times tonight in a 0-0 or 1-0 count and twice in a 3-2 count. Four were swung at, one was fouled off and three were put in play. He also threw a 2-2 changeup to Francisco Lindor for a ball. Those pitches allowed him to either even up counts or keep hitters off balance by starting the at-bat with an offspeed pitch. 

The right-hander worked into one 2-0 count amid the seven batters he faced. He missed with a sweeper and sinker against Luis Torrens, the final batter he faced, before battling back with a cutter and sinker in the bottom left corner of the zone for called strikes. Torrens then grounded out on a sinker.

Shugart threw nine fastballs, eight sinkers and six cutters and recorded a 63% strike rate. 

"Just trusting my stuff 0-0 and not being afraid," Shugart said. "Instead of dancing around the zone, it's more so just attacking the zone, and letting my stuff work early in the count."

• Matt Gorski and Jared Triolo provided an offensive spark with two two-run home runs. The offense has still scored four or fewer runs in 20 straight games. They've scored 48 runs, averaging 2.4 per game in that span and are hitting .204/.290/.295 with a .585 OPS in May. Still, Triolo said he thinks the offense is on the verge of breaking out. 

"Everybody's kind of been swinging it well," Triolo said. "I think we feel like we're at the edge of turning something over here. So I think that momentum is there and we're pretty excited." 

• Bryan Reynolds' struggles in May continued, going 0 for 3 with a walk, lowering his batting average to .096 this month and .194 on the season. He's not alone, however, as Adam Frazier (.194), Oneil Cruz (.194), Andrew McCutchen (.194), Triolo (.147), Henry Davis (.143), and Ji Hwan Bae (.091) are all hitting below .200 in May. One surprise is Alexander Canario, he was 2 for 4 tonight with two singles, extending his hitting streak to six games. He's hitting .294 with a home run and two doubles. 

• Bednar struck out Mark Vientos and Alonso before Brandon Nimmo flew out to center field in the eighth inning. He showcased command for all three of his pitches. He set Alonso up with two high fastballs, which were fouled off, before freezing him with a low curveball. He threw curveballs and splitters to Vientos and struck him out with a splitter that broke below the zone.