Bailey Falter brought new meaning to Mayday, causing opponents to use the distress signal with a masterful month on the mound.

The Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander completed one of the best months for a starting pitcher in franchise history, finishing with only three earned runs for an 0.76 ERA in six starts.

Falter allowed two hits over 6⅓ scoreless innings and the Pirates pounded a dozen hits in a 5-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Saturday night at Petco Park.

“Unbelievable, just the way he’s pounded the strike zone,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “He’s found ways to get ahead, using his fastball in and out, mixing in his slider and changeup. He’s pitching really well.”

After suffering their sixth one-run loss under new manager Don Kelly on a controversial play when Henry Davis was called out on a pitch below the strike zone with the bases loaded in the eighth inning Friday, the Pirates (22-37) bounced back with their sixth shutout win of the season.

Falter (4-3) was efficient in recording his sixth quality start in a dozen outings, throwing 52 of his 79 pitches for strikes. He got the Padres to hit 10 ground balls, including a pair for double plays, and recorded his only strikeout in the sixth inning. Opponents batted .145 against Falter in May, as he lowered his ERA to 3.14 for the season.

Kelly said Falter’s development of his off-speed pitches has made the elite extension on his fastball even more effective.

“He’s more aggressive, as far as the way he attacks guys and how he goes about it,” Kelly said. “He’s doing a great job of mixing it up and using all of his stuff on both sides of the plate.”

The Pirates got off to a good start, as Oneil Cruz hit a leadoff double to the right field corner and Andrew McCutchen drew a full-count walk. When Bryan Reynolds followed with a single to left, Cruz blew through third base coach Mike Rabelo’s stop sign and sprinted into a head-first slide into home for a 1-0 lead.

The Padres threatened to tie it when Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on a grounder to short, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Luis Arraez and stole third, but Falter got Manny Machado to ground out and Jackson Merrill’s sinking line drive to left was snagged by Alexander Canario.

Adam Frazier’s two-out double started a rally in the fourth. Ke’Bryan Hayes barreled a ball up the middle to drive in Frazier for a 2-0 lead, then advanced to third on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s single to center. But Dylan Cease struck out Cruz to escape without further damage.

The Padres sent Cease (1-4) back out for the fifth, only for McCutchen to smash his first-pitch slider 396 feet to the second deck in left-center for a 3-0 lead.

After passing Hall of Famer Arky Vaughan (1,709 hits) on Friday to move into ninth place among the Pirates’ all-time hits leaders, McCutchen closed in on another milestone. It was his 239th home run with the Pirates, one shy of tying Roberto Clemente for third-most in franchise history.

“I told the guys, ‘I can’t go 0 for May and not get one cheapie.’ I’d never done it, I don’t think,” McCutchen told SportsNet in an on-field interview. “I had to get one. I spoke it into fruition, I guess. It’s been a while since I’d hit one. It felt good. Hopefully, I can go on a tear.”

The Pirates added two more runs in the seventh against lefty Yuki Matsui. Cruz doubled to center and scored when Reynolds doubled off the right field wall. McCutchen singled and scored on a Spencer Horwitz pop fly that dropped in shallow left to make it 5-0.

Because of the elongated inning, Kelly initially told Falter that he was done. But the inning ended abruptly when Canario grounded into a double play and reliever Caleb Ferguson wasn’t warmed up yet. So Falter faced one batter in the seventh, getting Arraez to fly out to left.

Ferguson finished the seventh for Falter and Dennis Santana and David Bednar each pitched scoreless frames to complete the shutout as Falter finished off a fantastic month.

“The guy’s been showing up every day, keeping us in ballgames,” McCutchen said of Falter. “For him to be able to go out today and do what he did, it’s just a testament to the work he’s been putting in. Now he’s seeing the fruits of his labor. He’s been throwing a really good baseball. Kudos to him. Hope it continues.”

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