The Pittsburgh Pirates had to wait several weeks into the season to see just what they got with right-hander Joe Musgrove in an offseason trade with Houston.

It has been about a month since he came off the disabled list after a shoulder injury delayed his season debut Youth Dorance Armstrong Jr. Jersey , and Musgrove has proved fiercely competitive and fiercely loyal.

Musgrove is 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA for Pittsburgh (35-35) going into his sixth start Sunday, against right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (1-1, 5.40) and the Cincinnati Reds (25-45) in a series finale at PNC Park.

With a 6-2 victory Saturday, the Pirates won their third straight, climbed back to .500 and ensured themselves of winning a series after dropping eight in a row.

The Reds have lost two straight after a three-game winning streak.

Not only is Musgrove averaging more than six innings per start, with 23 strikeouts in 25 innings and a 1.12 WHIP, but also has played with an edge.

“He’s a tough guy,” Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli said last month. “When he’s on the mound, he’s mean. He’s the kind of guy that you want to have on the mound all the time.”

In his most recent outing, a no-decision Monday in Arizona’s comeback 9-5 win, Musgrove was cruising with a 5-0 lead in the seventh inning when he hit Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Chris Owings in acknowledged retaliation.

An inning earlier, Diamondbacks right-hander Braden Shipley hit Pirates infielder Josh Harrison — who got plunked 23 times last year and spent time on the DL this season and last because of a broken hand after being hit by pitches — and Pittsburgh rookie Austin Meadows got knocked down by a pitch earlier.

“It’s nothing more than just protecting your teammates,” Musgrove said. “It’s baseball. That’s how the game is played. That’s how I was raised to play the game. You protect your teammates, especially when a guy gets hit high up and in.”

The Pirates appreciated Musgrove’s loyalty, despite the fact that his retaliatory move might have sparked Arizona’s winning rally.

“That wasn’t the turning point of the game in my eyes,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “You can’t control what other people are going to think.

“The importance of teammates taking a stand for one another, I think that is part of the game. Everybody can construct their own narrative afterward. But I know (Harrison) has been hit a ton Marquez Valdes-Scantling Color Rush Jersey , been hit a lot. … Just plunking our guys, whether it’s accidental or not, is just not OK.”

Harrison said “it felt good” to have his new teammate stand up for him.

Musgrove has never faced the Reds.

DeSclafani has made six career starts against Pittsburgh, going 1-2 with a 3.41 ERA, but not since Sept. 17, 2016.

DeSclafani missed all of 2017 because of an elbow injury and, like Musgrove, opened this season on the DL because of an oblique strain.

Last Sunday, in his second start this season, DeSclafani picked up his first win since Sept. 28, 2016, 6-3 over St. Louis. He gave up two runs and 10 hits in five innings, with six strikeouts and two walks.

“I don’t think I was as good as I wanted to be,” DeSclafani said. “There’s definitely a lot of work from here on out. I was falling behind some guys and giving up too many hits.

“But it’s definitely something to build on.”

He has yet to get his setup pitch, his curveball, back to where it once was.

“Definitely still getting a feel for it. I only threw a few of them,” he said. “It’s definitely got to be incorporated. I need some kind of equalizer to (go along with) my fastball and slider. Once that comes around Vinny Curry Color Rush Jersey , it should make things a little bit easier.”

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles finally found some offense on its just-concluded six-game road trip, a big reason the team split six games.

They scored 20 runs while taking two of three from the Atlanta Braves over the weekend, and the Orioles want to try to keep that going against the Seattle Mariners when their four-game series starts on Monday at Camden Yards.

The Orioles scored 10, 7 and three runs against the Braves, and Mark Trumbo’s bat has come to life. Trumbo had five homers in the past week after getting a pinch-hit blast on Sunday during a 7-3 loss.

Baltimore needs that kind of offense if it wants to continue playing competitively.

Baltimore (23-53) will take on Seattle (47-31) for the first time this season in this series. The Orioles lost two of three in Washington against the Nationals before taking those two games in Atlanta and finally got some good pitching and hitting.

Andrew Cashner (2-8, 4.72 ERA) starts for the Orioles Monday against Felix Hernandez (6-6, 5.14). Despite his record, Cashner has not pitched that badly. The Orioles just have not given him a lot of offensive support at times.

He is 2-4 with a 4.04 career ERA versus the Mariners.

Hernandez has been inconsistent throughout much of this season but fared better lately. He has thrown well in three of his last four starts, and the Mariners are hoping for more of the same in this game.

Hernandez has a 5-4 career record and a 3.30 ERA against the Orioles.

The Orioles are starting to get back a number of players who were out due to injuries or have players who are finding their way after being out awhile.

Closer Zach Britton gave up four runs in the ninth inning of Friday’s 10-7 victory over Atlanta. That forced the contest into extra innings, and the Orioles won that in 15, but Britton rebounded and closed out Saturday’s win.

Trumbo has gotten hotter, and infielder Tim Beckham could return as early as Monday after missing about two months due to core muscle surgery.

“We’re looking forward to getting Tim back,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter told the Baltimore Sun. “We’re hoping to get him back to the player he was when he originally came over (in last summer’s trade with the Tampa Bay Rays). I’m hoping this surgery and some of the things can help him.”

Seattle is hoping that shortstop Jean Segura also will return Monday.

Segura has missed four straight games due to an infection in his right forearm. The arm was drained on Friday but he did not play over the weekend at the Boston Red Sox.

Nelson Cruz has hit in eight straight games and will face his former team in this series. He played for the Orioles in 2014 and helped them win the division and make it to the American League Championship Series before signing with the Mariners after that.

The Mariners could use help from Segura and Cruz as they have struggled throughout this East Coast swing. Seattle has gone just 1-5 on the trip so far, dropping three straight to the Yankees and two of three to Boston.

“We’ve got to get it turned back around,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “We had a lot of momentum going but this trip has not gone well, obviously.”