Pittsburgh turned to Carmen Mlodzinski in the second inning Wednesday night, and the right-hander answered with six scoreless innings that carried the Pirates to a 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals at PNC Park.
The Pirates used lefty reliever Mason Montgomery as an opener instead of starting Mlodzinski, and the move worked. Montgomery got through the top of the Nationals lineup and retired Brady House on an elevated 98.5 mph fastball in the first inning before handing the game to Mlodzinski, who later hit CJ Abrams with a pitch but then retired the next eight batters he faced. The Pirates improved to their second shutout of the season before 11,244 fans.
Mlodzinski became the sixth Pirates pitcher in the expansion era since 1961 to allow two or fewer hits in six scoreless innings of relief. He also became the first Pirates reliever to work at least six scoreless innings since Steve Cooke did it on Sept. 21, 1992. That kind of length mattered because Pittsburgh had only one other shutout this season, and this one came with very little margin for error after the Nationals loaded the top of the lineup with left-handed hitters.
Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Marcell Ozuna drove in Bryan Reynolds, and the Pirates added another run on Nick Gonzales’ infield single after Abrams chose to throw to first base instead of taking the forceout at second. Dennis Santana then closed it out in the ninth for his second save, getting Nasim Nunez and Drew Millas to finish the job.
Kelly said Mlodzinski never pushed back on the altered plan, calling him totally open and willing to do whatever the team needed and saying the move gave him a chance to get deeper into the game. The Pirates had lost the day before after Kelly pinch-hit for the hottest bat in his lineup, and Wednesday’s win showed a more patient approach can still produce a clean result when the pitching lines up behind it.
