Carmen

Mlodzinski

Mlodzinski was great in holding the Giants scoreless from the seventh through the ninth and would have gotten a win if Jacob Gonzalez hadn’t come up about a foot short of a walkoff homer in the ninth. Instead, the Pirates lost in 10, and now they’ll be without Mlodzinski’s services Thursday. It was assumed the Pirates would again go with the Lake Bachar-Mlodzinski pairing that they used twice last week. Bachar is still expected to start, but the Pirates will need to look elsewhere when he departs after two or three innings.

The Pirates are listing TBA for Thursday versus the Giants, but they could again use the Lake Bachar/Carmen Mlodzinski combo on four days’ rest that day. After missing last year following elbow surgery, Jones, who allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings Friday against the Cardinals, figures to continue to be used carefully down the stretch.

Lake Bachar again pitched in front of Mlodzinski and allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings. The win is Mlodzinski’s first since July 11 and comes after he went 0-3 with a 12.71 ERA in his previous four outings, the first three of which were starts. The Pirates likely will continue to treat him as more of a bulk guy for now, and he’s lined up to face the Angels on Thursday.

Lake Bachar got the start and took the loss after giving up one run over his two innings. It’s also worth noting that Khristian Curtis worked the final three innings of this game, and was more effective while allowing no runs and no hits in that action. Mlodzinski will likely work in bulk again versus the Cardinals next weekend, but that hasn’t been made official just yet. You don’t need to wait for that news to not use him.

Bachar pitched three innings in a start last Sunday and then a scoreless inning in relief on Friday. Mlodzinski has pitched a total of 8 1/3 innings and given up 13 earned runs in three starts since moving back into Pittsburgh’s rotation. He might be trending back towards middle relief if Bachar pitches well Sunday.

Mlodzinski gave up eight hits, walked one and struck out three. The 27-year-old right-hander was pretty good as a starting pitcher earlier this season, but in this most recent stint in the rotation he’s allowed 13 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings over three starts (14.44 ERA). Mlodzinski has thrown 63, 59 and 59 pitches in those starts, making it hard to see him working deep into games until the Pirates allow for a higher pitch count. Mlodzinski is lined up to face the Dodgers on the road on Sunday.

Moving Mlodzinski back into the rotation has not gone well so far. The Marlins were on him from the start with two hard-hit balls to begin the game and of the 11 total balls they put in play, eight were hit harder than 95 mph. He also hasn’t thrown more than three innings since June 10th. There’s no league where he should be a factor at the moment.

On one hand, Mlodzinski pitched poorly in this outing. On the other, the weather did him few favors. There was a one hour rain delay early on in this game and after he came back to the mound after it, the Mets rallied and Mlodzinski wound up giving up four runs in the third inning. Working in more of a swing-man role lately, he wasn’t built up enough to get over the hump and improve upon this outing. He hasn’t thrown more than three innings in an outing since June 10th and hadn’t started a game since May 25th. Alas, he’s scheduled to face the Marlins next timeout.

Mlodzinski was called upon after six strong innings from Braxton Ashcraft and needed just 39 pitches (30 strikes) to record the final nine outs. It certainly helped that he entered the contest with a four-run advantage that eventually ballooned to 10 runs by the final frame.

Imaging came back clean for Jones after he left Sunday’s game when he was hit in the elbow by a line drive in the fifth inning, and Kelly called the results for Jones “encouraging.” Whether the right-hander can make that start will likely be determined by how Jones feels in the coming days, but for now, it does appear he’s avoided a significant injury. If he can’t go Carmen Mlodzinski could get the nod.