Worth noting

• Through 98 games, Pirates starting pitchers had held opponents to a batting average of .233. The lowest mark on record for the club is .238, by the 1965 rotation headlined by Bob Veale (.225).

• Gerrit Cole pitched two-hit ball for seven innings in Tuesday's 5-1 win, while also getting two hits himself. The last Pittsburgh rookie starter to do that was Hank Gornicki, who went 2-for-3 at the plate while pitching a two-hit shutout against the Boston Braves on Aug. 27, 1942.

• Russell Martin took the Major League lead in throwing out runners when he made Bryce Harper his 20th victim in Tuesday night's first inning.

• Wandy Rodriguez (strained left forearm) rejoined the club and played some catch before the team's regular pregame workout.

• With their still-stalling attack, the Bucs may occasionally waste some solid pitching -- but they rarely waste any offense. They have won 17 consecutive games when scoring at least five runs, and are overall 38-3 with that output. The Cardinals have lost four games when scoring five-plus runs, and the Reds have lost six.