1B John Jaso was given the start because he has experience facing knuckleballers, such as Braves starter R.A. Dickey, manager Clint Hurdle said. Jaso was 0-for-4 with a strikeout and scored a run after reaching on an error. There is no way of knowing, of course, if young 1B Josh Bell would have done any better.

1B John Jaso finished up strong, going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and drawing a pair of walks. Jaso batted .268 with eight homers and 42 RBIs, spending most of the year as the team's leadoff hitter because of his ability to work counts and draw walks. It's unclear if he fits into Pittsburgh's plans for next year, but if not there, he'll find work somewhere else.

1B John Jaso became the first player to hit for the cycle in PNC Park since the ballpark opened in 2001, hitting a three-run homer to go with a single, a double and a triple against the Cubs on Wednesday night. Before Jaso, the last Pirates player to hit for the cycle was Daryle Ward on May 26, 2004, against the Cardinals.

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman John Jaso became the first player to hit for the cycle in PNC Park since the ballpark opened in 2001, producing a three-run homer to go with a single, double and triple against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.No Pirates or visiting player had hit for the cycle in Pittsburgh since Three Rivers Stadium closed in 2000.Jaso singled in the second, hit his seventh homer of the season in the fourth and added an RBI double in the fifth, all against Cubs starter Jake Arrieta. He then tripled to center to drive in a run in the seventh against Cubs reliever Pedro Strop.Before Jaso, the last Pirates player to hit for the cycle was Daryle Ward on May 26, 2004, against the St. Louis Cardinals.

INF John Jaso led off Thursday's game with a home run. It was his sixth of the year and his third leadoff home run of the year. Jaso has seven career leadoff homers.

1B John Jaso, who had a double plus a couple of hard-hit outs Sunday, was rewarded with his second start in a row after being a bench player for the prior eight days. "I'm hunting offense right now, and he swung the bat as well as anybody we've got," manager Clint Hurdle said. However, Jaso was gone in a double switch in the third inning after Josh Bell came through with a pinch-hit double in the second and stayed in to replace Jaso at first.

1B John Jaso didn't start against the Padres on Wednesday, one night after he bruised and blackened an eye during a collision at the plate. According to the Pirates medical staff, he is displaying no concussion symptoms.

1B John Jaso was in the lineup Friday night, albeit hitting sixth rather than leadoff. There was speculation he might be benched after not running out a chopper Thursday that he said he thought was foul but went for a double play.

1B John Jaso was out of the leadoff spot for the second straight game on Friday, batting fifth. He doubled in the second but was dead meat at third on an ill-advised attempt to steal. He also singled in the eighth, giving him two of the Pirates' three hits. And both came with him leading off an inning, if not the game. "That's pretty funny how that worked out. Kind of ironic a little bit. This game is strange," Jaso said. Manager Clint Hurdle's experiment seemed to work, but he said it wasn't a stroke of genius. "I don't know (why Jaso's hitting from a lower spot). I'm just glad he is," Hurdle said. "You try different things. He led off an inning with a first-pitch double. Sometimes you just move things around, see if that can jump-start it."

1B John Jaso (1-for-3 with a double) hit sixth Thursday for the first time this season. He led off in all but one his previous 68 starts, batting eighth in the one other start that he didn't hit first.

1B John Jaso was 1-for-4 with a walk Tuesday. Leading off the first, he doubled to the right-field corner. It didn't turn into anything, but it was the first extra-base hit off of Giants starter Johnny Cueto in 25 1/3 innings.

1B John Jaso provided most of the Pirates' offense Wednesday, when he went 3-for-4 with a run scored in an 11-2 loss to the Mets. The Pirates had just five hits in the game. Jaso led off the game by singling on the first pitch from Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard, who retired the next 17 batters before Jaso laced another first-pitch single in the sixth. Syndergaard carried a three-hit shutout into the ninth, when Jaso led off with a double and scored on a pinch-hit double by IF David Freese. Jaso is batting .291 with three homers and 19 RBIs in 57 games.

1B John Jaso was the only Pirate with two hits and now has multiple hits in five of his last nine games. Jaso is hiting .412 in that stretch. Jaso opened the game with a single off Texas starter Yu Darvish and is now 10-for-25 lifetime vs. Darvish. That's the second-highest average for anyone with at least 15 plate appearances vs. Darvish (Colby Rasmus, .467).

1B John Jaso has hits in 24 of his last 29 starts, and is 10-for-22 (.454) during the Pirates' current home stand, with seven hits in his last 12 at-bats and multi-hit games Friday and Saturday. He is 12-for-30 (.400) with four walks in the first inning this season.

1B John Jaso has hit safely in all seven of his games against St. Louis, going 9-for-27. Jaso was 2-for-4 on Saturday, driving in the tying run in the seventh and reaching base a third time by drawing a walk in the ninth. The former catcher might not fit many people's idea of a leadoff hitter, but his .284 average and .357 on-base percentage plays well there no matter if you have foot speed or not.

1B John Jaso had the Pirates' other home run in the game. He now has a hit in 15 of his past 16 starts, going 22 for 66 in that stretch.

1B John Jaso hit a first-pitch home run in the bottom of the first inning. It was his first home run of the season and the fifth time in his eight-year that he led off the first with a homer.

1B John Jaso is hitting .329 (24-for-73). All 24 of his hits came from the leadoff spot, which entering Thursday ranked third among all National League players behind Arizona's Jean Segura (35) and Chicago's Dexter Fowler (25). In his career, Jaso is batting .302 (157-for-520) with a .380 on-base percentage when hitting leadoff.

1B John Jaso was back in the starting lineup with RHP James Shields starting for the Padres. Jaso extended his career-high, 11-game hitting streak with a single in the first inning. Manager Clint Hurdle might be tempted to keep the left-handed-hitting Jaso in the lineup despite the Pirates facing two southpaw starters in Arizona.

1B John Jaso, who is a native of San Diego County, was 1-for-4 Tuesday to extend his hitting streak to nine games, which equals the longest run of his career. Jaso is hitting .405 (15-for-37) during the streak.