The Pittsburgh Pirates recently completed a season-opening four-game series against the Miami Marlins for the second straight season, but results compared to a year ago contrasted sharply.
Last season, the Pirates were riding high, having swept Miami to begin their 2024 campaign, but over the weekend, a lack of clutch hitting, rough high-leverage outings by the bullpen and a surplus of mental mistakes saw the club drop three of its first four games.
The Pirates began their second series of the season with another loss Monday at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., falling to the Rays, 6-1.
Carmen Mlodzinski, whose spot in the Pirates rotation came as a result of Jared Jones’ elbow sprain, was sharp to begin but unraveled in the fourth inning, which he failed to finish after allowing four runs.
Over 3⅔ innings, Mlodzinski (0-1, 9.82 ERA) allowed seven hits, striking out four with a pair of walks, while throwing 43 of his 66 pitches for strikes.
All four of the runs he allowed were earned.
“I thought early on, he was really effective,” said manager Derek Shelton on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “He kept the ball down, he did a good job (getting) some ground balls, got a ground-ball double play, but it just looked like in the fourth, the ball got elevated a little bit.”
After Junior Caminero led off the fourth with a single, Jonathan Aranda followed with a double and Christopher Morel made it 1-0 courtesy of an RBI hit.
Then, with no outs, Kameron Misner put Tampa Bay up 2-0, scoring Aranda.
Mlodzinski managed to strike out Danny Jansen, but with one out and two on, Jake Mangum put his club up 4-0 with a two-run single.
Tim Mayza soon replaced Mlodzinski, ending the frame without letting up any more damage.
“The confidence I’m going to take away is those first three innings were solid,” Mlodzinski said of his start. “I felt like I executed what I wanted to do, had a solid game plan and went and attacked.
“The side that sucks is yeah, the fourth inning. … That’s where I need to make an adjustment. I’m going to look into that inning and dive into the details.”
The Pirates (1-4) managed little offense against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, recording only two hits during his five innings, none of which went for extra bases. One was a bunt single by Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Their offensive woes persisted, as the Pirates managed no hits after Kiner-Falefa’s in the third until a one-out double by Endy Rodriguez in the eighth. The Pirates finished with four hits.
“It looks like we’re a little bit defensive,” Shelton said of the Pirates at the plate. “We’ve got to be a little bit more aggressive.”
In the bottom of the sixth, Tampa Bay (3-1) went up 5-0 after back-to-back doubles off Mayza by Mangum and Jose Caballero.
Caballero’s double, scoring Mangum from second, was hit sharply to right-center field and bounced off the tip of Jack Suwinski’s outstretched glove.
Mayza, who lasted 1⅔ innings and struck out a pair with one walk, was replaced by Ryan Borucki, who completed the sixth.
The Pirates finally got on the board in the eighth, with Adam Frazier singling home Rodriguez to it 5-1, but Kiner-Falefa and Tommy Pham struck out to end the frame.
After Borucki’s scoreless 1⅔ innings, the Pirates turned to Joey Wentz in the bottom of the eighth, with Tampa Bay taking a 6-1 lead via Yandy Diaz’s sacrifice fly.