The Pirates' starting rotation has been a key reason why the team entered Sunday's play with the third-best record in baseball, and also why they walked out of PNC Park atop the NL Central and with the club's best record through the first 23 games of a season since 1992.
Vince Velasquez continued the rotation's dominant ways, hurling seven shutout innings in the Pirates' 2-0 victory over the Reds, finishing off a four-game sweep of their division rival.
Velasquez only needed 100 pitches to get through seven scoreless, allowing only two hits and walking two batters while striking out 10 for the sixth time in his career.