The Pittsburgh Pirates pushed their win streak to seven games and continued to be the most surprising team in baseball through the early going, as Vince Velasquez shut down the Cincinnati Reds over seven strong innings in a 2-0 Pirates victory.
Velasquez moved to 3-2 on the year and lowered his season ERA to 3.76 after pitching seven shutout innings in which he gave up just two hits and two walks while striking out 10 batters. Colin Holderman then came in and set it up for closer David Bednar, who picked up his eighth save of the season with a scoreless ninth.