Early Thursday afternoon, Josh Bell predicted that the Pirates’ lineup was due for a turnaround. They had too many players underperforming, too many hitters better than their sub-.200 averages would indicate. Sooner or later, something had to give.

“Things are going to change, starting this series,” Bell said. “All it takes is one good game from us to turn it around.”

After three days off (due to their postponed series vs. the Cardinals) and a trip to a hitter-friendly ballpark, the Bucs had a game’s worth of offense within the span of two innings. We'll see if the Pirates’ 9-6 win over the Reds on Thursday was the start of a hot streak or just a much-needed, short-lived offensive outburst, but what Bell predicted played out as they stormed out of the gates to grab a big lead at Great American Ball Park.

• Box score

“Whenever you go through a long stretch where things aren’t necessarily falling how you want them to, I think it’s good to take a break and take a reset mentally, physically and just re-evaluate what needs to be done every time that guys step onto that field,” closer Keone Kela said. “Having those days given to us was definitely a plus.”

Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani threw 11 scoreless innings in his first two starts, but Adam Frazier ended his streak two pitches into the game with a leadoff homer to right-center field. It was Frazier’s eighth career leadoff home run. Only Barry Bonds (20) and Al Martin (10) have more leadoff homers for Pittsburgh.

It also set the tone for a Pirates lineup that used the past three days to turn the page following a tough start to the season.

With two outs in the first, Colin Moran crushed a slider to center field for his sixth home run of the season. Moran had been 3-for-25 with no RBIs since his last homer at Wrigley Field on Aug. 1. With a pair of solo homers, the Pirates put up as many runs in the first inning as they scored in the first inning of their prior 16 games combined.

“We had a couple days off to figure our stuff out, and it showed a little bit tonight,” Frazier said. “A lot of good swings from guys.”

Then came the big inning Pittsburgh had been waiting for.

Gregory Polanco led off the second by bashing a high fastball just over the right-field fence, giving the Pirates three homers within the first six batters of the game for the first time in franchise history.

“We’re used to seeing [DeSclafani] so good. You’re waiting for him to turn it around,” Reds manager David Bell said. “They seemed like they were on everything.”

Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart suggested after the game that DeSclafani may have been tipping his pitches, and if that was the case, the Pirates capitalized. They hit seven balls with an exit velocity of at least 100 mph off the right-hander (per Statcast), and they got a bit lucky with hits that found holes and the occasional check-swing single.

Erik González continued his successful start to the season by ripping a double high off the left-field wall, taking third on a Jarrod Dyson flyout and then scoring when Jacob Stallings punched a single through Cincinnati’s drawn-in infield. Frazier, Kevin Newman, Bell and Moran each singled to put the Pirates up, 7-0. Then, Bryan Reynolds and Polanco worked back-to-back walks to bring home another run. The rally ended with Moran scoring on a González groundout, and DeSclafani’s day ended after only two innings.

“I thought we were really aggressive and took really aggressive swings,” manager Derek Shelton said. “In some of the games, we’d seen aggressive swings for two or three guys. I thought, one through nine today, we took really aggressive swings.”

Two innings in, the Pirates had scored nine runs, their second-highest offensive output of the season. Since June 15, 2018, the Bucs are 23-9 against the Reds and 10-6 in Cincinnati. In those 32 games, they’ve hit .284 with 43 homers and 180 runs (5.6 per game).

“It always seems like when we play here, it’s an offensive reset,” starter Trevor Williams said. “Is this what we need? Scoring nine runs in the first two innings was great. Is it the boost that we needed? Sure. … The three days off was pretty nice as well.”

Pittsburgh’s lineup went quiet after the first two innings, but the pitching staff kept Cincinnati’s hitters at bay long enough to secure the Bucs’ fourth win in 17 games this season. Williams gave up three runs over five innings to pick up his first win of the season, then left-hander Sam Howard gave up a run in the seventh before right-hander Geoff Hartlieb gave up another in the eighth.

With the Pirates up four entering the ninth, Shelton called upon Kela -- fresh off the injured list -- to make his season debut. Kela gave up a leadoff homer to Barnhart, but he showed little sign of rust otherwise. Kela’s first pitch was a 97 mph fastball, and his last one was a curveball in the dirt that made Eugenio Suárez swing and miss.

“It felt really good getting out there, getting that first 'K,' bringing home a win for the team,” Kela said. “I had a little bit of nerves up there. It just felt good to get out there. I felt complete after the game finally ended. ... I was able to settle in and remind myself that I’m back.”