Via the official Pirates Twitter, the club has placed closer Jason Grilli on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left oblique. They recalled Jared Hughes to take Grilli’s place on the 25-man roster. The DL stint is retroactive to April 21.
Grilli allowed runs in his two relief appearances prior to the injury, both a result of Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun. In the top of the ninth on April 19, Braun hit a two-run home run off of Grilli to put the Brewers ahead 8-7. On April 20, Braun tied the game in the ninth with a solo home run off of Grilli. The right-hander hadn’t pitched since then.
Mark Melancon is expected to fill in for Grilli in save situations. The 29-year-old right-hander saved 20 games for the Astros in 2011 and 16 games for the Pirates last season.
Update (8:20 PM): Rob Biertempfel has this interesting update:
Per MLB rules, #Pirates cannot recall Jared Hughes for Grilli. So, Grilli is not available to pitch tonight, but he is NOT YET on the DL.
— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) April 26, 2014
