PITTSBURGH — The Pirates didn’t look like a last-place team during a 6-0 homestand in which they outscored the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals by 43-4.

“It was special,” shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa said after a 5-0 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday. “These aren’t just wins. These are dominating wins. It’s nice. You build off the confidence of domination of home. It’s hard not to feed off that.”

Despite their season-high six-game winning streak, the Pirates are 38-50 — including 26-24 since Don Kelly was promoted from bench coach on May 8 after manager Derek Shelton was fired.

Pittsburgh was 14 games behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs entering play on Wednesday. The Pirates became the first big league team since at least 1901 to score 43 runs or more and allow four runs or fewer in a six-game span. It was their first perfect homestand of six or more games since the Pirates were 7-0 against the Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers from June 28 to July 4, 2004.

The Pirates hadn’t pitched three straight shutouts since June 14-16, 2015, and hadn’t accomplished the feat against one team in a series since Oct. 2-3, 1976, also against the Cardinals.

Mitch Keller, Dennis Santana and Isaac Mattson combined on a six-hitter.

“It’s just a testament to how hard we’re working and the scouting that we’re going through,” said Keller, who allowed five hits in seven innings. “We just have a really good plan going in, which I think gives confidence to everybody when they know what the plan is, and when we execute it, it works.”

St. Louis hadn’t been shut out in three consecutive games since Sept. 18-21, 2022, against Cincinnati and San Diego.

“The starting rotation has been phenomenal,” Kelly said. “And then the guys in the ‘pen did such a great job in such a tough stretch, too, against quality teams.”

Keller key

Mitch Keller pitched seven innings, Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a two-run single in a four-run eighth and the Pittsburgh Pirates shut out St. Louis over a three-game series, winning 5-0 Wednesday to extend their winning streak to a season-high six.

Pittsburgh pitchers extended their scoreless streak to 31 innings as the Pirates finished a 6-0 homestand that started against the New York Mets in which they outscored opponents 43-4.

Keller (3-10) won his second straight start following a 15-start winless streak. He allowed five hits, struck out seven and walked one. Dennis Santana and Isaac Mattson completed the six-hitter with one inning each.

Pittsburgh, last in the NL Central, hadn’t had three straight shutouts since 2015. The Cardinals were blanked in three consecutive games for the first time since 2022.

San Diego shut out Colorado in three straight games from April 11-13.

Tommy Pham hit an RBI single in the first off Sonny Gray (8-3), who allowed four runs and five hits over 7 1/3 innings in his first start since a one-hit shutout at Cleveland.

Gray retired 14 straight batters until walking Nick Gonzales starting the eighth. Pham had another run-scoring single, Kiner-Falefa followed with his single and Spencer Horwitz followed with an RBI single.

St. Louis was 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners. The Cardinals were without first baseman Willson Contreras (bruised left hand) and third baseman Nolan Arenado (jammed right middle finger).

Key stat

St. Louis has gone a franchise-record 49 innings in a row without scoring against a fellow NL Central team.

Key moment

St. Louis stranded the bases loaded in the first inning when Thomas Saggese grounded out.

Up next

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (4-5, 5.76) starts Friday’s series opener at the Chicago Cubs.

Pirates: Start a weekend series at Seattle.