DENVER – It was not an easy question for Steven Brault to answer after he led the Pirates to a 6-2 victory over the Rockies on Sunday afternoon to complete a four-game sweep at Coors Field:

“What do you like more, your pitching performance or your home run?”

The 27-year-old left-hander didn’t dodge it.

“Probably the homer just because I don’t get to do that very often” Brault said. “It’s the first home run I’ve hit in a long time, so I would probably say that’s cooler. But the pitching performance was also fun.”

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When Brault said it was the first homer he had hit in a long time, he meant a long time. As in, his first Major League home run and first since he was playing for Regis University, five miles away from where he was rounding the bases. Family and friends were in attendance to witness it.

The Pirates, as a team, haven’t had much to feel good about in the season’s second half, but Brault’s performance since the All-Star break has been very good, a crucial development for Pittsburgh’s starting rotation heading into 2020.

So while the 441-foot blast in the seventh inning off Rockies reliever Jesus Tinoco -- which came off the bat at 102.5 mph, according to Statcast, and landed in the second row of the second deck in right field -- was cool and all, it was Brault’s 6 1/3 stellar innings that held the most significance for a Pirates club eyeing a return to contention next year.

Brault gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits, walking two and striking out five over 82 pitches, 77 of which were fastballs. The first offspeed pitch, a slider, came on pitch No. 70.

“He’s done that before,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “If you watch the fastball movement, the two-seamer, the sinker played extremely well today. He had a Plan B if he needed to go to it. He didn’t need to go to it.”

Sunday’s start was another example of how Brault -- who began the season in the bullpen -- has been putting things together lately. His ERA is 3.41 since he returned Aug. 6 from a stint on the injured list with a left shoulder strain. He has demonstrated an ability to dominate with his raw stuff, as well as to figure out a way to pitch effectively without his best stuff.

“I think,” Brault said, “the consistency of being able to start every five or six days and being able to get the work in that I need to do, and getting more confident with all my pitches -- especially my fastball -- to throw it where I need to throw it to get hitters out, it’s been a huge progression for me, personally.”

The latest chapter in Brault’s progression coincides with a hot streak for the Pirates that has reached eight wins in 10 games. During the four-game sweep of the Rockies, the starters’ ERA was 3.75 in the altitude of Denver, another small victory to reflect on during the flight back home to Pittsburgh.

The pitching, as well as an offense that produced 37 runs, were the most important elements of the series in Denver.

But there’s no doubt about what will be remembered the most from these four days: the Brault homer.

“He Little Leagued ’em,” Hurdle said. “Pitched ’em on the mound and then hit a home run against ’em. That doesn’t happen very often.”

Hurdle said a bunch of the Pirates were kidding Josh Bell, wondering if Brault’s homer went farther than Bell’s from the night before. Though it was close, it didn’t -- Bell’s was 452 feet -- but the distance wasn’t as important to Brault as the bragging rights he’s earned.

“I’m going to make sure they remember it forever,” Brault said of his teammates. “Especially Joe [Musgrove]. Anytime Joe is beating me in an argument or some kind of debate, I’ll say, ‘Yeah, but I hit the first homer in the big leagues between us.’”