When Pirates Needed it Most, Bailey Falter Delivered

PITTSBURGH — Coming off a bullpen game in which the Pittsburgh Pirates used seven different pitchers, Bailey Falter knew he needed to give his team some length.

The left-hander came through, carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and giving the Pirates 7.1-scoreless innings in a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday afternoon.

“That was the biggest thing for me after having the bullpen game last night, I knew that I was going to have to come out here and do my job,” he said following his start. “I’m just happy I got that done for the bullpen.”

Falter came out of the gate firing. He struck out all three batters in the first inning on a mere 10 pitches. The fast start was big for Falter and set the tone for the rest of his outing, but it likely wasn’t the beginning he was expecting.

“I actually had a terrible bullpen session, so I came out there guns hot and told myself, ‘Dude, I’m just going to grip this and rip it and see where it takes us,’” he explained.

Falter continued to cruise after the first inning. Prior to Jonah Bride breaking up his no-hit bid with one out in the seventh, he had only allowed three baserunners, all of which came on walks. Additionally, he faced the minimum through four innings thanks to a 6-4-3 double play to erase a free pass in the third.

“It was kind of sick. It was really sick, actually, but not very cool to not talk to him for a while,” joked Jared Triolo, who homered for the Pirates in the win. “Cool to see him do that.”

Falter worked into the eighth inning for the fourth time this season. The Pirates only had to turn to three relievers in an overtaxed bullpen. Colin Holderman covered the final two outs of the eighth. David Bednar recorded the first two outs of the ninth and Jalen Beeks finished the job for the save.

Thanks to Falter’s efforts and a day off on Thursday, the Pirates’ bullpen should be caught up to speed when the Pirates return to face the Kansas Royals on Friday night.

“I thought the ability to get in there with the fastball and the slider on the inner half of the plate, I thought he did a really good job executing against his arm side,” manager Derek Shelton said. “That’s about as good as we’ve seen him in two years, at a time where we needed a big start.”

Falter has already shattered career-highs in both starts and innings pitched in his first season as a full-time starting pitcher over a 162-game season in the big leagues.

After Wednesday’s start, Falter improved to 8-7 and now possesses a 4.20 ERA. He’s been a formidable back-of-the-rotation starter to complement Mitch Keller and rookies Paul Skenes and Jared Jones.

It was out of spring training that Falter won a spot in the Pirates’ starting rotation, a decision that was controversial at the time.

A five-run first inning against the Marlins in Miami in his season debut on March 31 did nothing to silence those doubts. But Falter rebounded and went on a torrid stretch, ending May with a crisp 3.22 ERA.

Despite going through some highs and lows during the back-half of the season, Falter has left no doubt in his manager’s mind.

“He’s proven that he’s a major league starter,” said Shelton.