Pirates end May with series win over Giants

It’s not how you start a month, it’s how you finish it.

The Pittsburgh Pirates capped off a gloomy month of May with a 9-4 win over the San Francisco Giants. The win not only gave the Bucs their first series win of the month, but it also put them back above .500 and possibly back in first place in the NL Central. That depending on how the Milwaukee Brewers fare against the Toronto Blue Jays.

After the Giants opened the scoring with a run in the second, Andrew McCutchen knotted the game at one in the third with a double to left. Three more runs came across in the inning thanks to a single from Rodolfo Castro and a two-run triple from Ke’Bryan Hayes.

Wilmer Flores gave the Giants another run in the third, but Bryan Reynolds added two for the Pirates in the fourth with a single to center field and another in the sixth with a run-scoring force out.

Connor Joe doubled home another run later in the inning, and Jack Suwinski singled home the Pirates’ final run in the ninth inning.

McCutchen finished the day 3-for-4 with a double, leaving him five hits away from 2,000. While no videos of his hits were captured, here’s Cutch bat flipping a walk.

Joe also ended the day 3-for-4 with a double. Ji Hwan Bae, Castro and Hayes picked up two hits each.

On the mound, Mitch Keller got his seventh win after fanning eight hitters over six innings. He’s now tied for first in the NL in wins. Keller also notched a unique accolade:

The Pirates look to start June with a win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday at PNC Park.