PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - The Pirates ended their four game losing skid in a 4-1 win against the Reds Saturday evening.
Reds starter Andrew Abbott had to face the weather in the top of the third inning as the wind picked up and the rain came down. He walked Henry Davis, gave up a single to Jake Mangum, walked Brandon Lowe on five pitches and walked Bryan Reynolds on four. That made it 1-0 Pittsburgh. Abbott walked Esmerlyn Valdez after a mound visit to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, Nick Gonzales hit a ground ball off Abbott's glove and the out was recorded at second base as another run scored.
Jose Trevino got the Reds on the board in the bottom of the 5th with a solo home run.
Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft allowed 1 run on 2 hits and struck out 5. He was pulled after 5 innings due to the skies opening up and the game going into a delay for an hour and 45 minutes.
"Fastball velo, the command was there, offspeed looked really good. He was efficient through 5 innings. Did a real nice job," said Don Kelly. "The other outtings there were some breaking balls that hung a little bit, he didn't execute as well as he typically does. Today didn't seem like that was the case. I think Trevino hit a fastball up and out over the plate but it seemed like the breaking balls had finish to them today."
After the delay was over, Henry Davis drove in a run on an RBI single in the top of the 6th inning to extend the lead to 4-1.
Carmen Mlodzinski threw 3 scoreless innings and allowed just 1 hit. He fanned 4 batters.
"Unbelievable! To come out, went three innings at home, two days off, coming back and going 45 plus pitches after just two days off. That was huge after the rain delay," said Kelly.
It's been no secret the Pirates have struggled this season against left-handed pitching. Kelly said it felt good to do well against one on Saturday.
"We've talked about the resilience of the team, the fight in that clubhouse. Yesterday was a tough day, the loss with the game and losing O'Hearn, just proud of the guys coming out today with the same energy. It was the same group going out there fighting. It was a good showing especially against a left-handed pitcher."
With the weather being ugly, Kelly said he was glad they didn't delay the game earlier than they did.
"When you get the starters rolling, we are not in a spot to lose Ashcraft from the beginning. Didn't sound like it was supposed to rain hard until 8:30. Didn't think it was going to rain as hard as it did but glad we were able to get through 5 before we went to the pen."
The Bucs finish the series with the Reds Sunday afternoon at 1:40. Mitch Keller starts for the Pirates vs Chase Burns for the Reds.
Trade Deadline Looming
With the win the Pirates are back at .500 (56-56) and sit 2.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot in the National League. The trade deadline is Monday at 6:00 PM. With O'Hearn's injury, it will be interesting to see if the Pirates make a trade for a left-handed bat.
They traded for Camilo Doval on Saturday from the New York Yankees to help boost the bullpen.
https://www.audacy.com/937thefan/sports/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-trade-2677646308
