The Pirates had been going through some kind of funk prior to the start of a four-game series with the Brewers, beginning Monday evening at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh was on a six-game losing streak–including back-to-back sweeps at the hands of the Mets and Red Sox–and had dropped nine of 11 after a 9-2 start.

The semi-good news was that the Buccos were still 11-11 and only four games back of Milwaukee, who came into the night in first place in the National League Central Division with a 14-6 mark. The Pirates needed to stop the bleeding; they needed a stopper in the starting rotation, a bulldog if you will, someone who would keep Milwaukee’s bats quiet while the home team tried to figure things out at the plate.

Who better this year than Jared Jones, the 22-year-old phenom with elite stuff? Jones started for Pittsburgh on Monday night and did exactly what he was supposed to do, as he pitched a strong six innings and allowed four  hits and one run while striking out seven batters and walking two. Jones has now started five games and has a 2.79 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 29 innings. The number of innings Jones has thrown so far came under great scrutiny when he was lifted after just 59 pitches during his last outing against the Mets, a game the Pirates would go on to lose.

But Jones got the win on Monday, and that’s because the Pirates bats erupted in the bottom of the sixth inning to turn a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 lead; I suppose using the word “erupted” was a bit much. After all, Ke’Bryan Hayes scored the go-ahead run on an error, and Oneil Cruz drove in some insurance with an opposite-field bloop single to left field. But the Pirates will take whatever they can get these days.

Just how quiet have the Pirates’ bats been lately? Andrew McCutchen, batting at the top of the order on Monday, led off the game with a home run, the first one for the team since McCutchen went deep against the Phillies on April 14.

The Brewers didn’t go away easily and loaded the bases with one out in the top of the eighth inning. Fortunately, reliever Hunter Stratton came on and induced two ground balls, and Pittsburgh escaped after giving up just one run.

Closer David Bednar pitched a strong top of the ninth inning to earn his third save, as the Pirates hung on for the 4-2 victory.

While it is still very early in the 2024 campaign, if the Pirates can do some damage in this series and win at least three of four, that would do a lot to ease the minds of fans everywhere who are fearful of an epic collapse similar to the one that came after Pittsburgh’s 20-8 start in 2023.