Pirates blast Rockies 14-3

The Pittsburgh Pirates continued their unexpectedly strong start to the season on Monday night when they crushed the Colorado Rockies 14-3 behind homers from Andrew McCutchen and Jack Suwinski and a good start from new pitcher Rich Hill.

Cutch got things started in the first with his third homer of the season before Pittsburgh erupted for eight total runs in the second and third innings, mostly coming on small ball. Other than the two dingers, Rodolfo Castro’s double was the only other extra base hit for the Bucs out of a total of 16.

The hit bonanza left the Bucs with a plethora of good batting lines: Ke’Bryan Hayes went 2-for-4 with a run and three RBIs, Bryan Reynolds went 2-for-5 with a run and two RBIs, Cutch was 2-for-6 with the homer, a run and an RBI, Carlos Santana went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, Mark Mathias went 4-for-5 with two runs and an RBI and Ji Hwan Bae went 1-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs..

Suwinksi then closed out the scoring with a solo shot in the ninth, his second homer of the year, which was a towering shot.

The 43-year-old veteran Hill held it down on the mound for his second straight decent start. He went six innings, giving up just one run on six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. He lowered his season ERA to 5.57, snagged his first win of the year, and if he can keep up with some consistency after his slow beginning, the Pirates have a chance to keep it rolling, especially if the bats can keep finding ways to add run support.

The Bucs now move to 10-7 on the season and have another matchup with the Rockies tonight before a day off on Wednesday and a big series with the Cincinnati Reds on the way on Thursday.