Pirates Mowed Down in Motown; Mlodzinski Struggles in Relief

Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitchers Bailey Falter and Carmen Mlodzinski combined to allow four home runs in their 7-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Tuesday night.

How We Got There

The Pirates (29-45) jumped out to a short-lived early lead in the top of the second when Adam Frazier brought home Spencer Horwitz from third with a groundout to first base.

Wenceel Pérez put the Tigers (47-27) up 2-1 with a two-run home run off Bailey Falter in the bottom of the inning.

Alexander Canario put the Pirates back out in front with a two-run single to right field in the top of the third, but the Tigers tied the game two innings later on Javier Báez’s solo home run.

Detroit went up 4-3 in the sixth when Pérez tripled home a run off Carmen Mlodzinski.

Báez hit his second homer of the game, a solo shot against Mlodzinski (1-5) in the seventh. Riley Greene put the Tigers up 7-3 with a two-run home run later in the inning.

Key Moment

Wenceel Pérez’s RBI triple served as the game-winning run for Detroit. He completed the two hardest legs of the cycle and drove in three runs.

Star of the Game

Javier Báez recorded his second two-homer game of the season — also on May 13 against the Red Sox. He finished 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Stat to Know

Tigers’ pitchers retired 19 of the last 20 Pirates’ batters of the game including the final 13 in a row. The last baserunner the Pirates had was Oneil Cruz, who singled with one out in the fifth.

Notable Performances

• Bailey Falter: 5.0 innings, five hits, three runs, one walk, four strikeouts, 78 pitches/48 strikes
• Carmen Mlodzinski: 2.0 innings four hits, four runs, one walk, two strikeouts, 46 pitches/29 strikes
• Alexander Canario: 1 for 3, two RBI

Noteworthy

• RF Bryan Reynolds exited the game in the second inning and was replaced by Alexander Canario. Reynolds’ wife went into labor.
• The Pirates reinstated C Joey Bart from the 7-day concussion injured list.

Up Next

LHP Andrew Heaney (3-5, 3.33 ERA) will start for the Pirates in the second game of the series on Wednesday night. LHP Tarik Skubal (7-2, 1.99 ERA), the reigning American League Cy Young winner, goes for the Tigers. First pitch: 6:40 p.m. ET.