PITTSBURGH — Jack Suwinski didn’t need to dig around in his suitcase to locate the red-hot bat that played a big role on the Pirates’ recent road trip. Connor Joe, same deal.
In fact, all of the ingredients that’ve made this start to the season so special for the local club seemed to arrive home safe, sound and functional after seven games in St. Louis and Colorado.
Fresh off scoring 33 runs in three days at Coors Field, the Pirates kept right on bopping, as Joe and Suwinski clobbered back-to-back home runs in the first inning, the offense offering just enough to support a terrific outing from Roansy Contreras in a 4-3 win against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park.
The victory means the Pirates (13-7) are off to their best start since holding that same record through 20 games to begin the 2002 season. More than that, however, was how it happened, specifically with the offense.
While Contreras was spectacular in delivering a 10th consecutive quality start for Pirates pitchers, Joe and Suwinski have been two of the biggest drivers for what has been an offense that has outperformed anyone’s wildest expectations.
Joe, who went 9 for 28 (.321) on the road trip, was especially hot against the Rockies, his former team. In three games in Denver — lopping off the first one, where he was the only Pirates starter without a hit — Joe went 5 for 10 with two doubles, a triple and an RBI.
Facing Reds righty Luke Weaver, who was his 2023 debut, in the first inning on Thursday, Joe worked the count full and put a terrific swing on a 96 mph fastball that was middle-in, driving it 419 feet over the center field fence.
The funny part about what has happened: As much as manager Derek Shelton has shown a propensity to rotate players, creating advantageous matchups or prioritizing rest, there’s really not much to do here.
Bryan Reynolds has to play. Unless Shelton is actively trying to lose — which he’s not — Suwinski and Joe have made it hard (OK, impossible) to take them out of the lineup as well.
For as hot as Joe has been, Suwinski has actually been better. After his 1-for-15 start — something that traced back to spring training — Suwinski began Thursday’s game 8 for 21 (.333) with a double, four home runs and seven RBIs in his last seven games.
In the past 10 days, no MLB hitter has had a better OPS or slugging percentage than Suwinski (1.440 and 1.000), whose 461-foot homer Monday is the longest by a Pirate this season.
His incredible power showed up just four pitches after Joe went deep Thursday, as Suwinski smashed a 2-1 mistake fastball over the right-field seats for his team-high-tying fifth of the season.
That turned out to be a big one, as the Reds did rally some late. They scored a run off Contreras to make it a 4-1 game after the seventh, then pushed across two more against Colin Holderman in the eighth.
Holderman allowed three consecutive singles, committed an error and threw a wild pitch. But Reynolds made a tough running catch in left, Ke’ Bryan Hayes gobbled up a ground ball, and Holderman fooled catcher Tyler Stephenson with a sweeper to escape any additional damage.
ON THE MOUND
The four-run first continued the Pirates’ recent trend of scoring early — 17 of their 33 runs on the trip came in the first two innings — but it paled in comparison to something else that has been a consistent theme of the Pirates’ recent run: quality starts.
With 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, Contreras extended that particular streak to 10. The last time the Pirates enjoyed 10 consecutive quality starts June 7-19, 2015, when the staff posted 12 in a row.
Although he battled control issues earlier this season, Contreras was outstanding against the Reds, flashing markedly better control and a tight slider. He walked two and struck out eight — all on sliders — while throwing 60 of 93 pitches for strikes. In four starts against the Reds dating back to last season, Contreras now has a 2.18 ERA in 20 2/3 innings.
Just when it looked like Contreras might get through seven, first baseman Jason Vosler blooped an elevated fastball into center field to score a run.
AT THE PLATE
The Pirates are very much swimming in the deep end of the pool when it comes to offensive rankings.
Their home run total now sits at 27, which as of this writing was eclipsed by just three MLB teams. The Pirates are also within the top six clubs in OPS, slugging percentage, batting average and total bases.
Thursday marked the fourth consecutive game where they’ve had multiple home runs, and they’re now 10-0 when that happens.
UP NEXT
It’s a terrific pitching matchup between Mitch Keller and Graham Ashcraft. Keller has struggled against the Reds in his career, with a 6.88 ERA across 12 starts.
