The Pirates bats –which combined for 15 hits — and the excellent pitching performance by Kevin Correia combined for a 9-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on Monday.

Right-hander Kevin Correia threw a four hit complete game for the Bucs. He allowed three runs with two walks and five strikeouts while picking up his third win of the season.

What’s most impressive is the fact that the second hit came in the 8^th inning. Before giving up the hit to Paul Janish, Correia retired 15 batters in a row.

Correia allowed a two-run homer in the bottom of the 9^th –the only earned runs he allowed and needed just 109 pitches for the complete game.

Kevin Correia told Kevin Goheen of MLB.com, “I threw a lot of fastballs. You obviously want as many runs as possible, but it’s hard to go up there and throw a lot of offspeed pitches and get behind guys when you have that big of a lead. I threw a lot of two-seam fastballs early, and I got people out early.”

The Pirates, for the second game in a row, got to the Reds starting pitcher early. Left-hander Travis Wood threw 42 pitches in the 1^st and allowed three runs to score. Jose Tabata continued to show his patience at the plate and drew a seven pitch walk. Wood allowed four straight singles (Matt Diaz, Neil Walker, Steve Pearce and Chris Snyder) to put the Bucs up, 3-0.

Scott Rolen lead off the 2^nd inning with a ground rule double to center field and then advanced to third on a passed ball by Chris Snyder. Third baseman Steve Pearce made a throwing error to first, scoring Rolen to cut the lead, 3-1.

10 men came to the plate to score five runs for the Bucs in the 4^th. Snyder and Ronny Cedeno hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Correia hit a sac bunt to move the runners over to second and third base. Andrew McCutchen followed with a bases clearing double over the head of Jonny Gomes in left field.

Wood was chased from the game after throwing 84 pitches over 3.1 innings.

The Pirates didn’t stop there. Diaz and Pearce hit singles and Lyle Overbay doubled to give the Bucs a 8-1 lead.

Reliever Matt Maloney hit Diaz with the bases loaded in the 5th for a 9-1 lead.

Steve Pearce told Kevin Goheen of MLB.com, “Everybody was hitting and we were working the count. A lot of people weren’t missing the pitches. It was a good night all around for our team. We put up the runs and K.C. went out there and shut them down. That’s huge for a team when a pitcher goes out and shoves it right back down their throat and we go back to hitting.”

Jose Tabata added, “Everybody is coming here with a new mentality every day. They bring the same energy every day. You see that it’s different from last year. Everybody is focused. I trust my team, and I think this year is going to be a very good year for the Pirates.”

Correia continued to cruise through the Reds lineup allowed just his second hit in the 8^th inning. After allowing Ramon Hernandez to single, he gave up a two-run home run to Chris Heisey in the bottom of the 9^th.

Correia’s second career complete game marked the Bucs second in the past four games (the other, Charlie Morton). It also marked the first time since April of 2002 that the Pirates won three consecutive road series. The Bucs have won seven of their first 10 games on the road this season.