Pirates win streak reaches seven after Vince Velasquez shuts down Reds 2-0

The Pittsburgh Pirates pushed their win streak to seven games and continued to be the most surprising team in baseball through the early going, as Vince Velasquez shut down the Cincinnati Reds over seven strong innings in a 2-0 Pirates victory.

Velasquez moved to 3-2 on the year and lowered his season ERA to 3.76 after pitching seven shutout innings in which he gave up just two hits and two walks while striking out 10 batters. Colin Holderman then came in and set it up for closer David Bednar, who picked up his eighth save of the season with a scoreless ninth.

Pittsburgh batters managed just six total hits on the day, but with the pitching staff mostly crusing, it was more than enough for the Buccos to get it done.

The only RBI came from Jack Suwinski, who knocked in Carlos Santana on an eighth-inning double after a Santana steal. The other run was scored by Ke’Bryan Hayes in the first after Andrew McCutchen grounded into a double play with Hayes already at third following a lead off double.

The Pirates have back-to-back series sweeps, have now moved their record to 16-7 on the year and have the third-best record in baseball. They are also on pace for over 100 wins on the season. Is this type of performance sustainable long-term? Maybe not, but let’s enjoy it while it’s happening. I’ll take the excitement after the previous few seasons.

Raise the Jolly Roger and Let’s go Bucs!