Tim Benz: Now that the bullpen has caught up to the starters, the Pirates' hitters need to join the fray

In the final game of their recently completed series against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday, the Pirates plated two runs in the top of the seventh to close out their scoring in what would end up being an 8-2 victory in Denver.

Since then, the Pirates have come to bat in 27 innings. They have managed to score in just four of them.

Four runs scored over the first two innings of Monday’s 4-1 series-opening win against the Reds. A single run in the seventh inning of Game 2 (a solo home run by Ke’Bryan Hayes) was registered during Tuesday’s 2-1 loss. Another run was posted on Bryan Reynolds’ homer in the eighth inning Wednesday to give the Pirates a 1-0 win in the series finale.

That means, in 23 of the Pirates’ last 27 innings, the team has failed to score. Does that sound sustainable to you?

Yeah, me either.

“They are helping us out a lot. Especially (Wednesday),” Reynolds said of the pitching staff. “Mitch (Keller) puts up a zero all the way to the eighth, then just hands it off (to the bullpen). It helps the offense out a little bit. Takes a little pressure off us.”

Or, maybe better said, the offense is putting a ton of pressure on the pitching staff — and the staff is responding.

Thankfully for the Pirates, that means the whole staff of late. Not just the starters. The bullpen has come to life too.

In terms of ERA, the Pirates’ starters are at 3.55. That’s good for fourth best in the National League. The rotation has been good all year.

The bullpen hasn’t been. It has a collective ERA of 4.50. That’s 24th in MLB. Of late, however, the Pirates relievers have been excellent. In the Reds series, Pirates relief arms pitched seven innings of shutout baseball, yielding just two hits as the Bucs won two of three at PNC Park.

“I don’t know if we have pitched better (this season) than we did in this series,” manager Derek Shelton said after allowing just three runs in three games.

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During the previous series in Denver, the Buccos also won two of three, with both victories coming in designated bullpen games. In those two contests, the staff combined to throw 18 innings parsed out over nine pitchers (five in Game 1 and four in Game 3). Both results ended up being victories for the Pirates, with just two runs scored by the Rockies in each game.

“It’s always easy giving it over to them. They are really good pitchers. I think they are hitting their groove right now,” Keller said of the bullpen. “We see the work they put in every day, every week that they put in. We have a special group of pitchers here.”

To Keller’s point, closer David Bednar hasn’t allowed a run in 12 of his past 14 outings. The two appearances in which he did still resulted in Pirates wins. He hasn’t blown a save or suffered a loss since May 18. Aroldis Chapman has yielded only one run in his past 8⅔ innings pitched. Colin Holderman has given up only five runs (two earned) in 28 games, none in eight trips to the mound this month. His ERA for the season is 0.70.

In short, the Pirates starters have been really good lately, as has the bullpen. The defense has committed just two total errors over the past three series.

Now, the offense has to catch up. The club is 22nd in Major League Baseball in runs scored (299). Its collective batting average of .230 is 26th. The roster’s .658 OPS is 28th out of 30.

“It wasn’t our series offensively, but we still got two wins,” infielder Nick Gonzales said of this week’s matchup against the Reds. “We are in striking distance. If we keep playing like we are, I think we’ll be in a good spot.”

Remarkably, even at 36-38, Gonzales is right. The Pirates are only a half-game out of a wild-card spot. Their next two series are three games apiece against the 34-39 Tampa Bay Rays and a rematch against the 35-39 Reds.

In other words, there are wins to be had over the next week. And it shouldn’t take too many of them to be the third wild-card team this year in the National League. Last year, it only took 84 of them for the Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks to soak up the last two spots.

But even that modest number will seem like a pipe dream unless the Pirates’ lineup rises to meet the level of its pitching.