PIRATES

Carmen Mlodzinski certainly hasn't blown many pitches by opposing hitters over his last four starts, striking out no more than two in each of those outings. But the results have been good enough lately where he hasn't needed to rely on the strikeouts to provide value. 

After allowing five hits, walking three and striking out two over five innings of one-run ball in the Pirates' 2-1 win over the Cubs here today at PNC Park, Mlodzinski has now produced four straight outings in which he's thrown five-plus innings and allowed two runs or fewer. 

It hasn't been the prettiest stretch, but why deny the fact that Mlodzinski has been good enough to put his team in winning situations over this recent stretch? That's a stretch, may I add, in which the Pirates have won three of four games. Mlodzinski has earned two winning decisions and a loss in that span. On this particular day, he had to settle for a no-decision in which he lowered his season ERA to 3.76. 

"To be able to get through five with one (run), I thought it was a good day, and it kept us in the ball game" said Mlodzinski, whose only blemish was a solo home run served up to Michael Busch in the fifth inning. "I feel like you take away that pitch to Busch, you still have a chance to win the game. Not upset with going five with one for sure.”

Kelly had a similar view of Mlodzinski's outing as the man himself. He described Busch's homer as "earned," and once again felt as if Mlodzinski put himself in the best possible position to help the team find success. 

"I thought Carmen did a great job in giving us a chance to win," Kelly said. "Which is exactly what every starting pitcher hopes to do when they go out there.”

Mlodzinski's pitch count reached 86 after five completed innings, but he made the most of his opportunity on the mound, leaning heavily on a four-seam fastball (39 times) that has been his second-most utilized pitch this season. He still turned to his splitter 21 times and mixed in plenty of sliders, sweepers, curveballs and sinkers, but the fastball was working well in a 1-2-3 first inning and Mlodzinski and Henry Davis kept turning to what was working. 

“We recognized pretty quick that I was executing it well," Mlodzinski said. "The velocity was good today on it. I think the usage percentage was higher because I was executing it better throughout the game. That’s probably one of the most important pieces of what is going to allow me to be successful, honestly. I don’t have one or two pitches that are super-elite. I have to be able to mix. I have to be able to make adjustments on the fly. If something is working, lean on it a little more that day. That is something that is super-important for me for sure.”