Pirate starting pitchers went 13 consecutive games allowing two earned runs or fewer over the past couple of weeks.

Their won-loss record during that time was 7-3 with a 1.67 earned run average.

Really? The

Pittsburgh Pirates?This is the same team that finished dead last in the National League with a 5.00 ERA while losing 105 games last season.This year, the team’s ERA is in the same neighborhood as the Philadelphia Phillies, who brought a Hall of Fame-caliber starting rotation into PNC Park this weekend.So what the heck is going on?Pitching coach Ray Searage — in his first full season in that position — can’t be making that much of a difference.Pitching is proving dominant throughout the major leagues this season, but no pitching staff in the big leagues has matched this streak of consistency among its starters.The last Pirate pitching staff to reel off 13 consecutive starts of allowing two earned runs or less was in 1968. That team did the trick from Sept. 13-27.Seven pitchers started 10 or more games for the Pirates that season: Bob Veale (33), Steve Blass (31), Al McBean (28), Jim Bunning (26), Bob Moose (22), Tommie Sisk (11) and Dock Ellis (10).Veale posted an ERA of 2.05, Moose was at 2.73, McBean 3.58 and Bunning 3.88. All four wound up with losing won-loss records.They feel your pain, Paul Maholm.The 1968 Pirates finished the season at 80-82. Blass was 18-6 with a 2.12 ERA. The rest of the team finished 14 games below .500.While pitching is vitally important, it takes more than pitching to win in the major leagues.You have to hit the ball every now and then.When the Pirates score four runs in a game —

just four — they are an eye-popping 23-5.They’ve even shored things up defensively.After finishing last in the National League in fielding in 2010, the Bucs ranked second in the league in fielding during the month of May. They committed just 10 errors in 977 chances.Their middle infielders didn’t commit any errors during the entire month. That’s as in Ronny Cedeno and Neil Walker, two question marks defensively going into this season.Through Wednesday, the Pirate bullpen has allowed only 29 of 86 inherited runners to score. Daniel McCutchen, Jose Veras and closer Joel Hanrahan have combined to allow only four of 31 inherited runners to cross the plate.Finally, Wednesday night’s win in New York improved the Bucs’ road record to 17-14 this year. They were 17-64 on the road last season.Hmm ... Clint Hurdle? Could he be making that much of a difference?Some, perhaps, but this is a maturing young team that is still growing up.When the bats mature to the point the arms and gloves have, this team will really be something to talk about.Hey, it’s June and the Pirates are relevant.That’s a step.John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle