Two mistake pitches cloud otherwise productive outing for Falter

With frequent runners gracing the basepaths in the early going, Bailey Falter was forced to grind through his first four innings against the Reds Tuesday night. He found ways to come away unscathed in each of those innings and still delivered a productive seven innings of work, but two particular mistake pitches proved costly in what ultimately became a 2-1 loss for the Pirates at PNC Park. 

With one out in the fifth, Falter got ahead 0-2 against Jonathan India prior to leaving a slider over the outer third of the plate. India barreled it up and sent a sharp line drive out to center for a double to put a runner in scoring position for the first time. One batter later, Santiago Espinal took advantage of a 1-0 fastball over the heart of the plate, sending it out to left field for a two-run shot: 

"Yeah, too much middle," Falter said of the pitch to Espinal. "(Jason Delay) called a fantastic game, trusted everything that he was putting down. We'd like to have one pitch back to India but other than that, thought we did really well controlling the zone tonight."

After back-to-back four-inning outings in which he allowed a combined eight runs, Falter delivered in terms of giving his team an opportunity to win. He allowed the two runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts en route to his seventh quality start and first since May 31. 

Falter allowed three hits and two walks over the first three innings before inducing three ground balls to escape each situation with 5-4-3 twin killings. He overcame a one-out free pass to Elly De La Cruz in the first and a leadoff walk to Spencer Steer in the second. Then, he surrendered two straight hits, including one to Jake Fraley that was quickly erased by a failed stolen base attempt, and got out of potential trouble with his third double play in as many innings: 

"It's awesome, especially coming from a fly-ball pitcher, so I kind of shocked myself out there," Falter said. "It was cool. I don't really see those too often. Just don't walk guys, you know? But it was cool."

Falter persevered through a sixth inning in which he allowed a pair of two-out hits to Jeimer Candelario and Steer before getting a flyout off the bat of Tyler Stephenson to end the inning. He was rewarded with a chance to go back out for the seventh, a frame in which he needed just five pitches to retire the side in order. 

In total, Falter threw 54 of 80 pitches for strikes, relying heavily on 34 fastballs and 22 curveballs. He turned to his sinker 16 times and went to the slider eight times in completing his fourth outing of seven-plus innings. Falter used a balanced mix of pitches to get the ball on the ground early, turning to his sinker, fastball and curve to induce the three key double plays that helped his pitch count stay relatively low. 

"I believe the breaking stuff was a lot better than my last previous two starts," Falter said. "Two-seam wasn't the best today, kind of shaded towards the middle, so something to work on next bullpen." 

Through 14 starts this season, Falter has continued to serve as a pleasant surprise for a Pirates rotation that has now produced 35 quality starts this season. He's 3-4 with a 3.84 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP and a .229 batting average against. He's certainly not going to blow away hitters with triple-digit fastballs like Paul Skenes or Jared Jones, and hasn't had the track record of success that Mitch Keller has had the past few years, but Falter has still been as reliable as any of the aforementioned three. 

And now, after getting back on track following a pair of subpar outings, Falter will look to keep moving forward. 

"It felt good to go out there and provide for the team, especially after my last two starts," Falter said. "Those guys have been working for me for a really long time so it felt good to go out there and get the job done."

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