The firsts came in waves so fast that Hunter Stratton almost had to pinch himself while standing at his locker in the home clubhouse at PNC Park, recounting his amazement at his string of monumental moments.

On the day his first child was due, the right-handed reliever learned that he had made the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Opening Day roster. Maverick Alexander Stratton was born at 11:39 p.m. March 23, just eight days before his father earned the first save of his career by pitching a scoreless 10th inning in a 9-7 win at Miami.

“It’s almost imposter syndrome,” Stratton said. “All these things don’t feel real, for them to happen at the same time. What did I do to deserve it? It definitely feels weird.”

Hunter Stratton's reaction to his first career MLB save pic.twitter.com/j0RealNsX2

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First big league win for Hunter Stratton ???? pic.twitter.com/Z5YfFVNcnv

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That feeling might have faded by the time Stratton got his first major-league win Saturday night, recording two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning before Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes hit back-to-back home runs for a 4-3 extra-inning win over the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton expressed confidence in Stratton after he got out of an eighth-inning jam with two runners in scoring position in relief of seven-time All-Star Aroldis Chapman in a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on April 22 that ended a six-game losing streak.

“It builds equity,” Shelton said. “He’s continued to pitch well. He’s continued to mix his pitches. There are two things you can say about Strat. No. 1, his stuff is good. And, No. 2, he’s not scared, man. He came right into that situation and went right after people, and that’s important.”

Stratton’s story is about overcoming the improbable. A 2017 16th-round pick out of Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tenn., who spent five-plus seasons in the minors, the 27-year-old reliever knows his pursuit of a career is finally paying off.

“Everything felt like failure in the middle,” Stratton said, “but just perseverance and put the work in, now I’m here.”

Despite posting a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings for the Pirates last season, Stratton was non-tendered in the offseason and removed from the 40-man roster Nov. 17. He was playing winter ball for Toros del Este in the Dominican Republic when he signed a minor-league contract with the Pirates in December.

“When I got non-tendered, I was like, ‘Well, I’m playing winter ball now, and I’m throwing pretty good. Let’s show up in midseason form,’ ” Stratton said. “If anything happens to that roster, they can say, ‘Stratton’s ready. He’s in midseason form.’ ”

True to form, Stratton didn’t allow an earned run in seven innings over eight relief appearances this spring, recording seven strikeouts against two walks and holding opponents to a .222 batting average.

Even so, he braced for bad news. His plan was to throw in the morning at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla., then head to the hospital that afternoon for his wife, Lakyn, to be induced. When told that Shelton wanted to see him, Stratton prepared for the worst.

“I was like, ‘I know this speech. He’s going to tell me how the year’s going to look and be in Indy for a little bit, and I’ll go get after it like I normally do,’ ” Stratton said. “I had no clue coming out of camp. I thought, being a non-roster guy, I was planning everything out to go back to Triple-A — where we were going to live — then I hear, ‘Hey, you made the Opening Day roster.’ Here I thought that day couldn’t get any better. It already was going to be the best day of my life. That just put the cherry on top.”

Stratton is now 1-0 with a 3.07 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 142⁄3 innings over 14 appearances, with 15 strikeouts and only one walk allowed — a 1.8% walk rate that ranks in the 99th percentile, per Statcast.

His greatest challenges came at the New York Mets, who swept the Pirates in three games. On April 15, Stratton relieved Martin Perez in the sixth inning and gave up a double to pinch hitter DJ Stewart to drive in one run, then hit Harrison Bader with a pitch to load the bases before getting Brandon Nimmo to ground out to short to end the three-run inning in the 6-3 loss. On April 17, Stratton surrendered four runs, including a two-run homer by Bader, in the sixth inning of a 9-1 loss.

So Stratton was thrilled that the Pirates trusted him against Milwaukee on April 22. With one out and runners on second and third, Stratton got Rhys Hoskins to ground out to third and Blake Perkins to first to protect the Pirates’ lead.

“It was just a learning experience from New York, when Martin was pitching and I came in for him,” Stratton said. “It was nice that they trusted me again to come into that situation and that I could show them that I could do it. It means a lot. Confidence is everything in this game. When you fail, it hits your confidence. So it’s good to be trusted.”

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