DENVER -- A day after allowing 16 runs on 16 hits in a loss to the Rockies, the Pirates flipped the script on Sunday afternoon in the rubber match with an 8-2 victory at Coors Field to earn a series win.

Pittsburgh led, 1-0, through five innings. Then the offense erupted in the top of the sixth to take a 6-0 lead.

Josh Fleming blanked the Rockies for four innings, plus two batters in the fifth. He scattered four hits -- two to open the fifth -- but issued no walks before turning it over to the bullpen.

It was just his second start of the season. (He was the opener on April 24 against the Brewers.)

¡°He was really efficient,¡± manager Derek Shelton said of Fleming¡¯s longest outing since May 28 last year. ¡°That was really the key to the whole game. We didn't know what we were gonna get. We were hoping we're gonna get three, and he gave us four.¡±

Finishing a road trip with two out of three bullpen games in Colorado is not a recipe for reliable relief, but Fleming set the tone early.

¡°I don't know what my pitch count was,¡± Fleming said. ¡°I was just going to try and grind through as many innings as I could until they took me out.¡±

Fleming, who threw 52 pitches, was especially effective setting up his cutter with his sinker.

¡°The cutter was the pitch, when I fell behind, I was throwing the most,¡± Fleming said. ¡°I got really good results out of it. I actually got a lot of fly balls today, which typically isn't like me. But I think that just goes to show how effective that pitch has been, especially off the sinker.¡±

Silencing Rockies bats that rained hits all over Coors Field on Saturday was big for Fleming.

¡°Their bats caught fire a little bit yesterday,¡± said Fleming, who was paired with batterymate Jason Delay. ¡°J.D. called a great game.¡±

Carmen Mlodzinski, the opener on Friday, pitched a pair of scoreless innings in relief. Justin Bruihl and Kyle Nicolas each allowed one run in their respective one- and two-inning outings.

¡°The biggest thing is we threw strikes,¡± Shelton said of a taxed pitching staff that rose to the occasion. ¡°We didn't have a walk today. You cannot give up free bases in this ballpark, or they come back to haunt you. I was really proud of our bullpen.¡±

The Bucs¡¯ first run came on a two-out, seeing-eye single from Jack Suwinski in the second inning. Then all five runs in a sixth-inning rally came with two outs.

Jared Triolo drove the ball through the same hole up the middle that Suwinski found earlier, good for a two-run single. Another single from Suwinski and a walk to Michael A. Taylor loaded the bases for Delay, who cleared them with a double to right field.

Pittsburgh had multiple hits from six players -- three from Rowdy Tellez and two each from Andrew McCutchen, Oneil Cruz, Nick Gonzales, Triolo, and Suwinski.

¡°Everyone was having good quality at-bats,¡± Gonzales said. ¡°Real team at-bats, getting to the next guy, move to the next guy. ¡­ Pretty much everybody contributing there.¡±

Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a leadoff single to right in the seventh and came around to score on a two-run single from Rowdy Tellez, giving the Pirates more than enough insurance. Reynolds has the longest active streak in the Majors.

Gonzales extended his own hitting streak to seven games, a career high.

¡°Last night, we did not play well,¡± Shelton said. ¡°We played poorly, and the Rockies took advantage of it. I was happy that we bounced back today, especially after the first couple innings, because the first couple of innings I didn't think we played as clean as we should have. I¡¯m really proud of the way we played offensively the last six innings.¡±