PITTSBURGH -- Just like his walkout song by Natasha Bedingfield proclaims, the rest of Jared Jones¡¯ 2024 is still unwritten.

Jones had his last start skipped last Friday in Atlanta, a move that was not at all reflective of how the 22-year-old stud has performed, but rather to manage his innings. The Pirates don¡¯t have a particular number in mind of how many they would want him to throw this season at this time, wanting to monitor how he¡¯s feeling so they don¡¯t overtax him in his first Major League season.

¡°Had a lot of time off, so I¡¯m not really used to that,¡± said Jones. ¡°Feel like after that first inning the rust kind of settled off, and just got right back to work.¡±

The good news is Jones didn¡¯t need to shake off that much rust to get back into game action Wednesday at PNC Park, tossing five innings of one-run ball in what would be a 5-4 Pirates victory over the Cardinals in 10 innings.

Jones started by walking two of the first three batters he faced, but after a visit to the mound by Joey Bart, he settled in, allowing just four more baserunners the rest of the game while striking out five.

¡°[Bart] said some really good words and pulled me right back into the game,¡± Jones said. ¡°It was smooth sailing from there.¡±

Jones was removed after five innings and 78 pitches due to what manager Derek Shelton called a ¡°little right lat strain.¡± Jones said he wasn¡¯t concerned about its severity postgame, saying it would have been ¡°really stupid¡± to keep pitching, but he could have if necessary.

Potential minor injury aside, Jones showed again why he¡¯s such an important part of this club¡¯s present and future, attacking fearlessly against a divisional rival in a key July matchup.

¡°I think we¡¯re seeing him grow up before our eyes, in terms of the situations that he has to handle,¡± said Shelton.

Getting Rowdy
Wednesday was perhaps Rowdy Tellez's most complete game as a Pirate, recording three hits -- including a home run -- making a diving snare in the ninth for the final out of the inning, and making an aggressive turn from first to third on a Nick Gonzales bloop to right to set up the Pirates¡¯ first two runs in the fifth.

It was a banner performance, so which was the sweetest?

"Probably the first to third because my speed is underrated,¡± answered Tellez. ¡°A lot of people don't understand how fast I actually am. I think today they said I was point-six [feet-per-second] below league average on my sprint, so I'm getting there."

Tellez had a huge month of June, hitting .333 with a .925 OPS and 14 RBIs, and the hot bat is carrying over to the start of July. Even if he can¡¯t maintain that pace, it looks like the April-May Tellez is well in the rearview mirror.

¡°Through the first two months, he never changed who he was,¡± Shelton said. ¡°He owned up to the fact that he was scuffling. He owned up to the fact that he needed to be better. He owned up to his work. I think that speaks as a testament of who he is that he didn¡¯t change.¡±

? Internal improvements on horizon for Bucs? Just look at Tellez, Cruz

Cruz plays the hero
Oneil Cruz is developing a flair for the dramatic. He picked up his first walk-off hit of his career on April 6 against the Orioles, and he tied a game against the Giants on May 21 with a line-drive double.

Add another hit to the highlight reel Wednesday, when he jumped on a first-pitch JoJo Romero slider and laced a single into right to score Andrew McCutchen and win it.

¡°It feels good, obviously,¡± said Cruz, via interpreter and coach Stephen Morales. ¡°I stayed focused through the whole game and that's how we, as a team, got the win tonight.¡±

Cruz won it in the 10th, but made an equally important play in the first, grabbing an over-the-shoulder bloop to rob Brendan Donovan of a two-out RBI single.

¡°Actually being honest with you, I was a little bit afraid just to run into [center fielder Jack] Suwinski just because he's a big, strong man,¡± Cruz said, beaming a wide smile. ¡°But we completed the play, and that's the most important thing.¡±

¡°He¡¯s a pretty good player,¡± Jones said of Cruz. ¡°Makes a lot of really good plays and does a lot of special things on the field. I¡¯m really happy to have him behind me.¡±