The Pittsburgh Pirates see significance in being 5-0 for the first time in 41 years

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Pittsburgh Pirates designated hitter Andrew McCutchen celebrates his double during the seventh inning of an opening-day baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Monday, April 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON ā€“ Let other folks downplay the way the Pittsburgh Pirates have begun 2024.

Manager Derek Shelton is thrilled that his club is 5-0 for the first time in 41 years ā€” and has scored at least a half-dozen runs each time out this deep into a season for the first time in at least 124 years.

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ā€œThereā€™s significance to getting off to a good start,ā€ Shelton said Monday night after the Pirates beat the host Washington Nationals 8-4 to follow up a four-game series sweep at the Miami Marlins. ā€œYou come out of spring training and all the things you talk about that you kind of want to implement ā€” and weā€™ve talked a lot about what our intent should be and how it should be ā€” and weā€™ve kind of executed that in the first five games.ā€

Pittsburgh is coming off a 76-86 record a year ago and a fourth-place finish in the NL Central. The team hasn't ended up with a winning record since 2018 and hasn't won a game in the postseason since 2013.

So this sort of early success, as little as it might ordinarily mean in the marathon of a 162-game major league schedule, might actually carry some weight.

ā€œI was just nervous to not mess it up,ā€ left-handed starter Marco Gonzales said with a chuckle after his first outing with the Pirates, a no-decision in which he allowed just one run in five innings. ā€œIā€™m just glad to get mine out of the way and keep it rolling. I donā€™t think anybody in here is really keeping track right now. Weā€™re just having fun. Thatā€™s the best part about this.ā€

Heading into Wednesday's game at Washington after Pittsburgh's first day off arrives Tuesday, the Pirates have outscored the opposition 39-21 so far, which averages out to roughly 8-4.

And there are contributions from throughout the lineup.

On Monday, for example, Michael A. Taylor contributed three hits, while Bryan Reynolds, Andrew McCutchen, Alika Williams and Henry Davis each provided a pair.

Pittsburgh went ahead 3-1, suddenly found itself tied 3-all in the seventh, and then responded right away, putting up three runs in the eighth and another two in the ninth.

ā€œWeā€™re doing a lot of things really well. ā€¦ We are doing a lot of different things right,ā€ said Connor Joe, whose double drove home the go-ahead run in the eighth.

ā€œEveryoneā€™s aware that it's still early, right? We donā€™t want to get ahead of ourselves here, but the vibes are good. Everyoneā€™s pulling for each other. Everyoneā€™s building on the pressure that weā€™re putting on pitchers, right?ā€ Joe said. ā€œThatā€™s kind of carrying over to the next guy and the next guy. Just grinding out at-bats. Weā€™re playing some gritty baseball right now and thatā€™s contagious.ā€

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