This season, a familiar and unfortunate script has followed Carmen Mlodzinski to the mound.
Often sharp early, Mlodzinski’s outings have been prone to unraveling once opposing lineups face him for the second or third time.
So when Mlodzinski navigated through four scoreless frames to begin Wednesday’s game at PNC Park vs. the Chicago Cubs, albeit with some hard contact (although no extra-base hits) allowed, it remained to be seen whether he could continue being effective when he came back out to start the fifth.
After Mlodzinski (6.58 ERA) allowed two men aboard before recording an out, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton declined to wait and find out, ending his evening in favor of Ryan Borucki with the Pirates in front by two.
Mlodzinski ultimately allowed a pair of runs over four innings, taking a no-decision in a 4-3 Pirates win, with Andrew McCuchen’s seventh-inning RBI double propelling the club to victory.
McCutchen’s RBI double coincided with a scary scene at PNC Park, as a fan fell off the edge of the Clemente Wall.
At 8:50 p.m., the game was paused as medical officials rushed to the fan, who remained motionless after falling onto the right-field warning track.
No further information on the status of the fan — who was placed on a medical stretcher, taken off the field in a cart and escorted to Allegheny General Hospital — was known as of 10 p.m. Wednesday.
As a result of the accident, no Pirates players conducted any postgame interviews with reporters.
When media entered the Pirates clubhouse shortly after the game ended, McCutchen indicated that no players were interested in commenting on the situation.
Mlodzinski allowed six hits, walking one with four strikeouts while throwing 42 of his 65 pitches for strikes.
The Pirates (12-19) gave Mlodzinski an early lead, going up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning.
Oneil Cruz, swinging on the first pitch thrown by Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, ripped a sinker 114.7 mph and off the Clemente Wall for a leadoff double.
After a passed ball by catcher Carson Kelly advanced Cruz to third, Ke’Bryan Hayes drove him home with a bloop single into right field.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Pirates went up 2-0 when Jared Triolo plated Joey Bart with a sacrifice fly.
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong made a terrific throw home, which umpire Alfosno Marquez initially ruled to have beaten Bart, who neglected to slide, for what would have been an inning-ending double play.
But a Pirates challenge overturned the call.
Borucki took over in the fifth with no outs and the Pirates up 2-0, but Dansby Swanson (leadoff single vs. Mlodzinski) and Jon Berti (walk) came around to score.
First, Borucki gave up an RBI single to Ian Happ and, following a wild pitch that bounced directly in and out of Bart’s glove that allowed Berti and Happ to advance a base, a dribbler by Kyle Tucker was enough to plate Berti, tying the score 2-2.
Before the Pirates had escaped the frame, a breaking ball in the dirt that Bart was unable to handle, which was ruled as another wild pitch on Borucki, allowed one more run to score, putting Chicago in front 3-2.
Following Mlodzinski and Borucki, Chase Shugart and Caleb Ferguson combined to toss three scoreless innings.
In the ninth, David Bednar came on to close the door, recording his third save of the season.
Ferguson (1-0, 1.88 ERA) was Wednesday’s winning pitcher.
Bryan Reynolds (2 for 4) and Hayes (2 for 4, RBI) recorded multiple hits for the Pirates.
Caleb Thielbar (1-1, 3.86) absorbed the loss as well as a blown save for Chicago, and Boyd, who lasted five innings, allowing two runs on six hits, took a no-decision.