PITTSBURGH — Carmen Mlodzinski entered a day earlier than expected. Then he exited with more left in the tank.
Mlodzinski’s season has featured a move out of the rotation, then back in and now back out once again. Throughout the ebbs and flows, one thing is for certain: Mlodzinski has been both reliable and efficient when used strictly as a reliever.
And with his usually scheduled bulk role in Thursday’s bullpen game getting closer, Mlodzinski got the call Wednesday instead, with the Pirates trailing by two entering the seventh. He carried the torch from the seventh to the ninth, throwing three perfect innings on just 30 pitches while Pittsburgh’s offense charged back. Then Mlodzinski got the hook, and the Pirates lost, 5-4, in 10 innings to the Giants.
“Probably if needed,” Mlodzinski said when asked if he could have gone another inning. “I think just based off of the rest that I had from the last outing on 3 1/3 [innings] on Saturday, probably asking for four there might have been a little too much. But I probably could have gone one more, just with how efficient I was.”
Pirates manager Don Kelly explained the decision postgame, basing the pull of Mlodzinski off of up-downs (innings) rather than pitches. Mlodzinski hasn’t thrown more than 3 1/3 innings since June 10, when he threw 3 2/3. But he has consistently carved out well above 30 pitches, throwing 47 or more in each of his six outings in August.
The earlier decision to bring in Mlodzinski — despite the fact that he was scheduled to pitch Thursday — showed Kelly’s faith in the Pirates’ bats.
Pittsburgh trusted its offense to climb back from trailing through the entirety of the game. It did just that, erasing a 3-1 deficit.
“Down 3-1, and felt that Carmen gave us our best chance to keep it right there,” Kelly said. “Believed in the offense and found a way to come back and tie it up, and felt like Carmen gave us the best chance to keep it there to score and win.”
“Willing to do whatever we need,” Mlodzinski added. “I think the way our offense has performed this year, we know two runs is something we can for sure cover, and we did.”
Kelly felt it was better to show the top of the Giants’ order fresh stuff rather than have Mlodzinski face it again, especially with the automatic runner beginning on second base. Kelly didn’t have his best tools at his disposal, though — both Mason Montgomery and Luke Weaver had pitched three of the past four days and were not available. That left former Giants closer Camilo Doval as the top option if Mlodzinski were to be pulled.
Kelly went with the flamethrowing right-hander, and the Giants promptly scored two on a double and a sacrifice fly. The Pirates were left chasing San Francisco again, and they came up short in the bottom of the 10th despite getting within one.
The problem with using Mlodzinski and losing was twofold. The Pirates shouldn’t have been down by two after Bubba Chandler tossed five strong innings. Chandler was dealing outside of a first-inning solo shot from Rafael Devers.
In the fifth inning with the score tied, Chandler had one out and first and second but seemed to have won an eight-pitch battle with Devers. Chandler induced a pop-up to shallow center field, but the ball dropped between Oneil Cruz, Esmerlyn Valdez and Jared Triolo. Two runs then scored in the frame on a sacrifice fly and a single to give the Giants a 3-1 lead.
The Pirates’ offense couldn’t get runs across as Pittsburgh left 10 runners on base and was 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position. While impressively coming back to nearly win the game, the Pirates left a runner on third base in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
The usage of Mlodzinski also hurts the Pirates’ chances at a series win Thursday. Lake Bachar will open, but the rest of the innings will likely be covered without bulk options. Wilber Dotel, Thomas Harrington and Hunter Barco are each eligible to be called up, but all pitched in the past three days with Triple-A Indianapolis. Khristian Curtis, Antwone Kelly and Noah Murdock are all ineligible to come up as they’ve all been optioned within the past 15 days.
Pittsburgh will need to put the pieces together one by one to make sure one loss that already hurt its playoff chances doesn’t spiral into two.