Johan Oviedo gets first Pirate win, Pirates bats back him up 6-1

The kids are proving to be all right.

Johan Oviedo made good use of his four-seamer and slider to pitch five stellar innings at Great American Ball Park, only giving up one hit, while Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds (for the second game in a row) and Cal Mitchell went yard to steer the Pirate ship to a 6-1 victory over the Reds.

Only Jack Suwinski didn’t get a hit in the Pirates’ starting battery. Reynolds started the Pirates’ scoring in the third inning not with a dinger—that came later—but with a single that got Michael Chavis home after a single of his own and a Oneil Cruz walk that advanced him.

Then in the fourth:

In the fifth, B-Rey was like “I can do that,” and did:

Cal Mitchell was like “Oh, yeah? Let me hit one WITH SOMEBODY ON BASE.”

Defense also played a big part, with a couple of key double plays being made to keep the Reds off the basepaths. The Pirates got a dozen hits but left ten on base. Progress, not perfection.

Luis Ortiz will make his big league debut in the second game of this double header. Let’s keep it going, kids!