Started from the bottom: Pirates break .500

PITTSBURGH -- When the Pirates began their first homestand of the season, they were in a tough predicament, having lost five straight games and having been outscored by 23 runs (30-7) in a three-game series in Cincinnati.

But following a sixth straight loss in the April 8 home opener against the Cubs, what the Pirates have accomplished, culminating in their 2-1 win over the Royals on Tuesday at PNC Park, has put them back over the .500 mark (12-11).

“We went into Cincinnati, and they beat us in all facets of the game,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Our guys didn't get discouraged.”

What has driven a stretch of 11-5 baseball for the Pirates -- who evaluators had projected to finish last in the National League Central, if not last in all of baseball -- and provided a jolt of optimism to the fan base and the team? Here are a few key ingredients.

Small ball

When Shelton heard about the game-deciding home run derby that’s being experimented with in the Pioneer League this season, he gave a laugh.

“I don't think we're built for home run derbies here with some other teams,” Shelton said. “I would much rather stay with what we have going right now.”

The Pirates have some guys who can slug, but they’re tied for 28th in the Majors in homers, with 18. They’re largely winning their way through timely, situational hitting. Between April 10 and Tuesday, Pittsburgh has the sixth-best batting average in the Majors (.265) with runners in scoring position.

The Bucs capitalized on those situations twice on Tuesday, with a two-out RBI single by Colin Moran in the first and a go-ahead bloop single by pinch-hitter Wilmer Difo in the eighth.

“We’re not just going to sit and bang with people, and we did a really nice job executing tonight,” Shelton said. “And again, sometimes you don’t have to hit the ball hard, you just have to put the ball in play. Our guys did a nice job of that.”

Steady hands

Tyler Anderson led the way for the Pirates on Tuesday, going six innings with just one run allowed for his longest start of the season. That’s nothing new for the new Buc.

Anderson is the only Pittsburgh starter to go at least five innings with three runs or fewer allowed in each of his starts this season, and despite allowing a runner to reach in four of his six innings, he limited the damage to just one run, which scored on a nearly exceptional play by Erik González for the potential third out.

“I think when we signed [Anderson] this offseason, we knew he was a veteran guy that had the ability to do this stuff and had pitched in the National League before,” Shelton said. “It’s definitely been stabilizing for us.”

Anderson is not the only one producing stellar starts for the Pirates. In their past 16 games, only two outings have produced more than four runs: A seven-run start by Mitch Keller on April 15 and a seven-run start from Trevor Cahill on April 17.

A true closer? Seems so

In Spring Training, Shelton said there was a group of four or five pitchers who could hold the closing role. Though Shelton doesn’t like to use labels, it’s apparent that one reliever has established himself as the best among the bunch: Richard Rodríguez.

“I think with him we can play to the leverage,” Shelton said, “but I think it's safe to say most of the time, he's going to pitch with the lead in the ninth."

Rodríguez extended his Major League-leading stretch of dominance, recording his 21st consecutive scoreless appearance, the longest active streak in MLB. Though Tuesday's appearance was Rodríguez's 10th of the season, it resulted in only his fourth save, as the Pirates have routinely won by scores of four or more in the past 16 games.

This is all despite Rodríguez throwing 88.9 percent four-seam fastballs, including nine straight to retire the side in the ninth inning on Tuesday, with an average velocity of 93.2 mph.

“It's amazing to watch,” Anderson said. “We just make fun of him when he throws a slider. Like, ask him why he got scared. … He's just got a really slow heartbeat. Ballgames are won with slow heart rates and slow heartbeats."