PITTSBURGH -- One of the Pirates’ biggest deficiencies this season has been their struggles with runners in scoring position. They’ve had their chances. They’ve missed their chances. Over the last couple days, the Pirates appear to have taken a small step forward.

The Pirates went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position in their 9-5 loss to the Reds on Sunday at PNC Park and are 13-for-36 (.361) with runners in scoring position on this current homestand. The sample is all of a handful of games, but for Pittsburgh, this stretch is a much-needed deviation from a season-long trend.

"Really encouraging,” said manager Derek Shelton. “It's something that we're continuing to work on, and we're kind of seeing the benefits of that. I think it's really important, and our guys need to keep going. We had some run scoring opportunities and we capitalized on them and gave us a chance to be in games. That's really important."

Entering this homestand, the Pirates were hitting .209 across 803 at-bats with runners in scoring position, the worst mark in the league. At the conclusion of Sunday’s game, the Pirates have raised their batting average with runners in scoring position up to .216 on the season. That’s a far cry from their performance in San Francisco last weekend, when they went 3-for-28 with runners in scoring position against the Giants.

“Baseball’s streaky, and it seems like right now we’re kind of struggling with that,” said Kevin Newman, who had two hits on Sunday. “[We’re] hoping that we’ll keep grinding away at-bats and it’s going to turn here soon, get those big hits and get those runs in.”

In the bottom of the first inning, Ben Gamel drove in the Pirates’ first run with a single to center field to plate Bryan Reynolds, and Rodolfo Castro followed it up with a double down the left-field line to score Michael Chavis. If not for a bit of bad luck, Pittsburgh may have put up a crooked number.

With the infield in and runners on second and third, Greg Allen pulled a line drive that appeared destined for left field. Reds shortstop Matt Reynolds lept and stole Allen’s potential hit, then doubled off Gamel at third base. If Reynolds didn’t make the catch, Gamel would’ve waltzed home and Castro, the runner on second, likely would’ve scored.

The Pirates tacked on a couple more timely hits in the bottom of the sixth inning. Tucupita Marcano drove home a pair of runs in the sixth inning with a double, then advanced to third on right fielder Aristides Aquino’s misplay. One batter later, Jason Delay singled home Marcano, giving the Pirates four hits with runners in scoring position.

There’s still work to be done on this front. Pittsburgh’s average in these situations remains the worst in the league. Still, the Pirates’ performance in key moments over the last week represents progress.

Cam Vieaux pitches well in return to Pirates
Vieaux’s contract was selected about 30 minutes prior to game time, and the rookie pitched well in his return to the Major League level. In his first appearance with the Pirates since July 1, Vieaux didn’t allow a run in 1 2/3 innings of relief and struck out two batters.

"He did a nice job,” Shelton said. “He came in and kind of put the fire out. He got Moustakas and then got the ground ball base hit. He finished the ninth. He did nice and was effective.”

Vieaux’s crisp outing was a continuation of the solid work he had done with Triple-A Indianapolis since being designated for assignment in mid-July.

On the surface, Vieaux’s numbers during his latest stint with Triple-A Indianapolis merely look OK. In 14 1/3 innings, Vieaux posted a 4.40 ERA with 14 strikeouts. Those numbers don’t jump off the page, but Vieaux’s numbers were inflated by an outlier outing in which he allowed four earned runs and retired just two batters. Excluding that outing, Vieaux only allowed three earned runs across 13 2/3 innings (1.98 ERA).