Roansy Contreras makes quality start as Pirates jump out to early lead, hold on to beat Reds

The Pittsburgh Pirates spotted Roansy Contreras a four-run, first-inning lead with back-to-back home runs by Connor Joe and Jack Suwinski, then let the right-hander shut down the Cincinnati Reds.

Contreras walked off to an ovation in the seventh inning after delivering the 10th consecutive quality start by a Pirates pitcher, but third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes received a roar for his defensive gymnastics.

Hayes made an acrobatic stop-and-throw to turn a double play that saved a run, which proved crucial as the Pirates withstood a Reds rally to hold on for a 4-3 victory Thursday night before 14,051 at PNC Park.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton called it the “play that saved the game.”

“I don’t know if you’d go to the Russian judge, what they would tell you, but when I went to the mound, they were all like, ‘Whoa,’ and I said, ‘Dang Ke’, that’s a hell of a play,’ ” Shelton said. “That’s why he’s one of the best defenders on the planet. There’s probably two guys in baseball that make that play.”

It was the fourth consecutive win for the Pirates (13-7), off to their best start since 2002 (when they finished 72-89). They have won five of their past six, including a sweep at Colorado.

Again, they can credit their starting pitching.

Contreras threw his slider on 50 of his 93 pitches, inducing nine called strikes and 23 whiffs as he struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings while giving up one run on five hits and two walks. The Pirates now have their longest streak of quality starts since June 7-19, 2015, when the staff posted 12 consecutive, per Elias Sports Bureau.

Hayes hit a leadoff single, Bryan Reynolds drew a walk and both advanced on Andrew McCutchen’s groundout to first. With two outs, Joe hit Luke Weaver’s full-count fastball 419 feet into the visiting bullpen for a 3-0 lead.

Suwinski followed with a 407-foot blast to right field, giving the Pirates a 4-0 lead and marking their first back-to-back homers since Joe and Rodolfo Castro hit solo shots in the eighth inning of a 5-0 win at the St. Louis Cardinals on April 13.

“It gives us a lot of confidence knowing we have our hitters backing us up and giving us some runs to work with,” Contreras said.

Weaver struck out five and held the Pirates to one hit — an Austin Hedges single in the second — over the next five innings. The Pirates mustered only two baserunners over their final seven innings.

“We did a good job attacking Weaver,” Shelton said. “He kind of changed his pitch mix up and the changeup was really good after the second inning and he went to it a lot. Watching from the side, it had a lot of action, a lot of depth and he threw the ball well.”

Contreras got out of several run-scoring situations. He gave up a leadoff walk in the second to Jake Fraley, who stole second base after the Reds reversed an out call on a challenge, but struck out the next three batters. Contreras surrendered two-out doubles to Jonathan India in the third and Tyler Stephenson in the fourth but retired the next batter both times.

The Reds finally got to Contreras in the seventh, when Fraley hit a leadoff single and advanced to second when Stephenson walked. Wil Myers hit a grounder into the hole that saw Hayes stutter-step and get his glove on the ball as he fell to knees. Hayes popped up and threw to Ji Hwan Bae at second base, who turned the 5-4-3 double play.

“I kinda just blacked out,” Hayes said, with a shy smile. “Athleticism kind of took over. I actually watched it back. I didn’t really realize what I did. I thought I did something completely different. That was a play that I’ve kind of never made before, so it felt a little weird. That’s why I had to go back and look at it.”

From his view behind the plate, Hedges called it “one of the better plays I’ve ever seen a third baseman make, to be honest.”

“I watched the replay in the weight room, and his legs moved in eight different directions,” Hedges said, “then he threw an accurate throw — perfect for Bae to be able to turn it — and he made it look easy, which is crazy.”

A single to center by Jason Vosler made it 4-1, but the damage could have been worse. Robert Stephenson replaced Contreras and got Nick Senzel looking at a called third strike for the final out.

Colin Holderman didn’t fare as well in the eighth, allowing two runs while Pirates fans did the wave. Holderman gave up a leadoff single to Jose Barrero and then skipped his throw past Carlos Santana at first base. Barrero advanced to third on Holderman’s wild pitch and scored on India’s single to right to cut the Pirates’ lead to 4-2.

TJ Friedl followed with a single to right, and the Reds pulled a double steal to put India in scoring position for Spencer Steer’s sacrifice fly to deep left that made it a one-run game. Holderman got Fraley to ground out to third, then got Stephenson swinging at a sweeper for the final out.

“I’m like, ‘There is no way I’m going to leave this ballgame with it tied,’ ” Holderman said. “I tried to get as nasty as I could, and it worked out.”

David Bednar retired the side in the ninth to earn his sixth save, as the Pirates finished off their sixth win in the past eight games.

“We are hot, and we know it,” Joe said. “There’s no denying that, but I think good teams strike first but then also keep applying the pressure. So I think the focus moving forward is to not only to keep the momentum going but make in-game adjustments like we talked about and keep adding on to our lead.”