Pirates Blank Nationals With Pitch-Perfect Plan
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates flawlessly executed a pitching plan with an effective first inning from Mason Montgomery followed by six-shutout innings from Carmen Mlodzinski in a 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals at PNC Park on Wednesday night.
Scoring Plays
Bottom 1st, 2-0 PIT: The Pirates (11-7) struck for two runs against Nats starter Jake Irvin (1-2). Marcell Ozuna plated Bryan Reynolds with a base hit to right field and Nick Gonzales legged out an infield single, which allowed Ryan O’Hearn to score from third base.
Key Moments
The two Pirates’ runs in the first inning came thanks to a two-out rally. After Oneil Cruz and Brandon Lowe struck out to start things off, five straight Pirates reached. The Nationals (8-10) were never able to answer.
Player of the Game
Carmen Mlodzinski (1-0) is the first Pirates reliever to pitch at least six-scoreless innings since Steve Cooke tossed seven-scoreless on Sep. 21, 1992 against the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s also the sixth Pirates reliever in the Expansion Era (since 1961) with six-plus scoreless innings and two or fewer hits allowed and the first since Bob Johnson in 1972.
Stat to Know
This was only the third time the Pirates have won at home on Jackie Robinson Day, which was first celebrated in 2004. The other two instances were from 2005-06 — both against the Chicago Cubs.
Notable Performances
- Mason Montgomery: 1.0 inning, one hit, no runs, one strikeout, no walks, 11 pitches/nine strikes
- Carmen Mlodzinski: 6.0 innings, two hits, no runs, two walks, five strikeouts, 81 pitches/55 strikes
- Ryan O’Hearn: 3 for 4, one run
- Bryan Reynolds: 0 for 1, three walks, one run
Noteworthy
- Although it only lasted one inning, this was Mason Montgomery’s first start of his career. His last start as a professional came with Triple-A Durham on August 4, 2024 as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
- Montgomery became the third Pirates pitcher in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to to pitch in relief one game and then start the team’s next game in back-to-back days. The others were Kevin Correia (Aug. 19-20, 2012) and Bruce Kison (June 2-3, 1967).
- Bryan Reynolds drew three walks and extended his on-base streak to 14 games.
- Dennis Santana recorded his second save of the season.
Up Next
The Pirates and Nationals will wrap up their four-game series on Thursday afternoon. RHP Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.12 ERA) will start for Pittsburgh and LHP Foster Griffin (2-0, 1.76 ERA) will take the ball for Washington. First pitch: 12:35 p.m. ET on ET SportsNet Pittsburgh/100.1 FM & AM 1020.
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