Our Takeaways from the Pirates Snapping Their 4-Game Skid

The Pirates worked around a lengthy rain delay to shut the Reds down 4-1 to snap their four-game losing streak and get back to .500 again. The bats received a couple gifts as the Reds starter Andrew Abbott walked in two runs and Braxton Ashcraft steadied the ship to pick up his 11th win of the season. Watch Jim and Tyler break this one down on the NS9 Postgame Show powered by Primanti Bros:

Here’s my takeaways from this one…

Pirates Finally Defeat a Lefty Starter

The Pirates offense finally got a win against a lefty starter and they finally got a win as a favorite! It wasn’t pretty and the bats really didn’t do much (just three hits against Abbott and no extra base hits again), but they took some walks and were able to score three of him. Abbott was struggling with the mound and threw about 10 balls in the dirt, but he walked two to load the bases and then he walked Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez to give the Pirates two runs and then Nick Gonzales hit into a forceout to make it 3-0. Again, they did not hit a lefty starter but at least they didn’t screw something up when Abbott was struggling to throw strikes. They got three off him and then Henry Davis RBI single off the bullpen in the 6th inning made it 4-1 and it was enough with the way Ashcraft and Mlodzinski were dealing.

Ashcraft Is The Stopper

Braxton Ashcraft has had some up and down starts as of late, but once again he showed why he is the true stopper on this team this season and not Paul Skenes. Ashcraft went five innings with just two hits, one run allowed and struck out five with just one walk. He threw just 69 pitches and probably goes at least six if not 7 innings if not for the rain delay. But he was solid Saturday night and had the Reds off balanced in those first five innings. Jose Trevino hit a solo home run off Ashcraft in the 5th inning, but that was really it for the Reds off him in this game. And the bullpen held it down for him for a solid 4-1 win.

Ashcraft’s five innings Saturday gives him 127.1 innings on the season. His career high in innings was last season when he tossed 118.0 innings across Triple-A and MLB. He’s also hit that and threw another 9.1 innings so far with two months to go. It’ll be interesting to see where they let him throw to…maybe 150-160? And if they’ll shut him down once he gets to that point. And then if this team does get hot and makes the playoffs, is he going to be available? I’m not so sure, but I know that they’ll need him for any postseason games.

Mlodzinski Out of the Pen is Almost Not Fair

When the Pirates actually get it right and line up Carmen Mlodzinski‘s schedule with a game they’re winning in a close game, the Pirates are difficult to beat because Mlodzinski coming out of the pen has been so good. With the rain delay Saturday night, it set up perfectly to have Mlod come in at the restart and he frustrating the Reds hitters with three scoreless innings with four strikeouts. He allowed just one hit, a leadoff double by Eugenio Suarez in the 7th inning, who he stranded at second and one walk. That was it for the Reds off Mlodzinski in this win. Since going to the pen, Mlod has posted a 2.29 ERA in 39.1 innings. I know he sees himself as a starter, but he’s just so much more effective out of the bullpen for this team in my opinion when used correctly. And he’s showing that in this bullpen role.