CHICAGO – When Marco Gonzales took the hill Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, it followed what he described as three months of frustration.

The Pirates’ southpaw looked better than ever to start the 2024 season, only to have things halted three starts in thanks to an injury to the same forearm that sidelined him for most of last year. He spent 89 days on the injured list with a left forearm strain, eagerly trying to prevent the ailment from derailing another season.

As he stared down White Sox right fielder Tommy Pham, winding up to throw his first big league pitch since April 13, Gonzales pumped a 90.1 mph fastball on the low outside corner of the strike zone that was fouled off. With one strike out of the way, all the stress from the past three months evaporated.

“From pitch one,” Gonzales said, “throwing a first-pitch strike and being like, ‘OK, now that I got that out of the way, let’s go have fun and compete.’”

That's exactly what he did, turning in his fourth start of the year by throwing five innings of one-run ball to guide the Pirates to a 4-1 win over Chicago.

“It was a good day,” Gonzales said. “Great to be back here with the boys, and just competing at the highest level. It took a lot of time to get here, a lot of hours. It’s very gratifying.”

It’s easy to understand why Gonzales was so eager to get back on the mound. After getting off to a shaky start last season with the Mariners, the southpaw was shelved that June with a left forearm strain. He eventually underwent surgery in August to address the issue, and appeared ready for a bounceback campaign this year after allowing just five earned runs over his first three starts of the season.

Then came another forearm strain, as Gonzales was placed on the IL shortly after throwing his second consecutive quality start on April 13. In the time that followed, Gonzales worked to ensure he was able to get back and help the Pirates as soon as he could.

“It’s been a team effort,” Gonzales said. “A lot of patience, a lot of frustration, honestly. It’s just not where you want to be, on the IL, frustrated and trying to get back.”

Yet in all the time it took to return to the bigs, it certainly didn’t appear as though the 32-year-old collected much rust.

Gonzales struck out the first hitter he faced, leaning on his signature changeup that induced each of his four of his K’s on the night. He breezed through the second inning on four pitches, even after allowing a leadoff single to Paul DeJong. Though he allowed seven hits, he was able to frequently avoid trouble, with Luis Robert Jr.’s third-inning RBI single representing the only damage.

In total, Gonzales threw 60 pitches, all but 15 of which were strikes. Despite the time and effort it took him to get back, he spent much of Friday looking like he’d never left.

“I was really impressed,” manager Derek Shelton said. “It takes a strong testament. He had the injury last year, then he has another injury a couple starts into this year. To be able to build back out, to go out and give us five good innings was really important. It just speaks about him as a person being able to get over a little adversity.”

The Pirates’ bats, kept quiet through the first four frames, eventually put up a pair of two-run innings to ensure Gonzales’ return came complete with a victory. That set the stage for closer David Bednar, who also returned from a brief stint on the IL to shut the door in the ninth for his 17th save of the season.

After the game, Gonzales made sure to highlight people he was most thankful for during his lengthy absence. From the Pirates’ training staff to his wife and daughters, the lefty had quite a list of people whose encouragement fueled him in his journey back to the hill.

But the overall success of the night itself wasn’t lost on Gonzales. To not only get his season back underway, but do so in such a seamless fashion went a long way towards achieving the goals he has for 2024.

“It was very important,” Gonzales said. “Not only for my career -- I want to show who I am, I want to show who I can be -- but for this team. I feel like we have a lot of potential, and I want to come back and contribute and help us win ballgames.”

He did just that on Friday, in a moment he waited almost three months to get to.