Takeaways: Pirates' bats come alive, as they open May with lopsided win over Reds

Apparently all the Pirates needed was for the calendar to flip from April to May. And to swap out red-clad NL Central opponents.

Henry Davis certainly didn’t mind.

Whatever the case, the Pirates endured a 91-minute delay and greeted the Cincinnati Reds with a barrage of home runs, putting four balls over the fence — two off the bat of Davis — during a 9-1 victory on Friday at PNC Park.

"It feels great," Davis said. "Obviously we have a really good team. Went through a little lull. But we’re a good team. We hit back. And we’re gonna keep doing that."

It was the type of get-right game the Pirates have needed. On a variety of levels.

Bryan Reynolds has walked a bunch, but he hasn’t hit with much power. That was addressed with a solo home run in the first and a triple in the third, resulting in two RBIs.

Davis, after making substantive swing changes this offseason, had been stuck in an offensive funk to start the season. But he notched the second two-homer game of his Major League career, connecting in consecutive innings and driving in three runs.

Hank's big night

While this one had a lot of important ingredients, let's focus on Davis first.

Few, if any, Pirates work harder. Manager Don Kelly even complimented Davis' batting practice in Milwaukee and said he's been grinding to find this type of swing. Davis laughed it off, but there's some important truth to it.

Davis felt into some bad habits that he's been trying to correct. Friday offered some important evidence of that work benefitting the Pirates catcher.

"Had really good work days," Davis said. "It was pretty frustrating how long it took. Made some adjustments today. I finally feel like it clicked."

The other time Davis hit two homers in a game was July 21, 2023 off Shohei Ohtani. The four home runs matched a season-high for the Pirates, who also had that many in an 8-3 win at Cincinnati on March 31.

Other offense important

In addition to Reynolds and Keller, Marcell Ozuna went deep for the first time in 11 games, while Nick Gonzales collected three more hits, upping his batting average to .333.

Only three MLB hitters have a better average than Gonzales.

After constructing a 4-0 lead through four, the Pirates doubled their advantage in the fifth inning thanks to Ozuna’s blast and Davis’ second of the game.

Ozuna got a four-seamer over the middle of the plate. He, too, blasted it to center field: 425 feet at 107.5 mph. It was the type of swing the Pirates have been waiting to see from Ozuna, who was hitting just .100 with no extra-base hits over his past nine games but notched the 299th bomb of his career.

More than perhaps anyone on the Pirates roster, Davis has really needed a game like this. For his second shot, he put a terrific swing on a two-strike slider off the plate, pulling it over the left-field fence at 103.7 mph.

"It just makes [our lineup] that much deeper," Reynolds said. "Good swings tonight by [Ozuna and Davis]. Obviously, Henry had a big night, hit a homer like [Adrian] Beltre. So, yeah, it was great to see."

Keller the stopper

Mitch Keller started and allowed just one earned run over seven innings while striking out six. It was the fourth seven-inning outing for Pirates starting pitchers, all since Keller’s first one April 19 against the Rays.

The avalanche of offense sort overshadowed Keller, but it shouldn’t. Pirates pitchers failed to last more than five innings throughout the team’s five-game losing streak, but Keller clearly embraced the role of stopper.

The right-hander allowed just three and one walk. He relied on his four-seam fastball a bunch, throwing it 40% of the time, and also mixed in some sweepers and sinkers.

Keller finished with 14 whiffs on 54 swings and threw 71 of his 104 pitches for strikes.

"Just filled it up," Keller said. "Hank was calling a really good game there. I don't think I shook once. Defense was playing unbelievable. Offense getting out to the jump they did just made it a lot easier to go out there and try and fill it up and get quick outs."

Reynolds gets right

Reynolds got his night started with a mammoth blast in the bottom of the first, jumping on a four-seamer Reds starter Brady Singer left middle-middle. It’s the type of pitch Reynolds doesn’t miss often, and he crushed it 443 feet to center field for his fourth of the season.

Two innings later, Reynolds laced another ball with authority. This time it was a 1-0 slider that caught too much plate. Reynolds lined it 327 feet to center to score Davis.

The Pirates stretched their lead to 3-0 when the next batter, Ryan O’Hearn, jumped on an elevated sinker, clobbering it to right field at 105.2 mph.

While we’ve been waiting to see more power from Reynolds, it’s been similar for Davis, who got his first of the season in the bottom of the fourth to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead.

"Just good swings," Reynolds said. "Trying to be aggressive and direct. It worked out."

Davis, who entered the game hitting just .154, connected on an 0-1 sinker over the heart of the plate, sending it screaming 415 feet to center at 105.8 mph.

Quotable

"I don't think there's anybody in here that works harder than him on the catching side and the hitting side. I'm not in the cage with him, but the guy cares a lot, just about his craft and everything he does. To see him put in that work and just to have a game like tonight, it's really cool. Hopefully this can just springboard him forward into a really good season. Super happy for him.” — Keller on Davis

Around the horn

Reynolds has 19 home runs against the Reds, the most for him against any team. … Keller’s 104 pitches were the most for a Pirates starter this season, topping Paul Skenes’ 102 on Thursday. … Keller now has 868 strikeouts, one shy of Dock Ellis for eighth place on the Pirates’ all-time list.

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.