Carmen Mlodzinski Struggles as Pirates Lose to Rangers

Mlodzinski then only allowed one walk over the next two innings, which included five strikeouts, and looked to end his night on a strong note.

He went into the fifth inning with 81 pitches, but Pirates manager Don Kelly kept him on to see if he could go longer.

Mlodzinski threw 12 more pitches and gave up two doubles and a single with an out, as the Rangers made it a 4-1 lead.

Right-handed rookie pitcher Wilber Dotel came in for his second MLB outing and would hold the Rangers to one more run in the inning off of a ground out.

Mlodzinski finished this game with five earned runs over 4.1 innings and a career-high 93 pitches, giving up six hits and two walks, while posting six strikeouts.

Those five earned runs are the most since he gave up five earned runs in a 10-7 loss to the Cleveland Guardians at PNC Park on April 18, 2025.

Mlodzinski went with his sinker, four-seam fastball and splitter most of the time and the Rangers got 10 hard-hit contact swings on them and all six hits on them too, leading to a worse outing than usual.

While Mlodzinski had a tough outing, the Pirates bullpen would throw 3.2 scoreless innings to give the offense a chance to come back.

Dotel threw a scoreless sixth inning, finishing with one hit and three walks allowed, but ended up doing his job over 33 pitches.

Right-hander Justin Lawrence and left-hander Evan Sisk took on the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, with two strikeouts each, a needed outing for both pitchers.

One Moment Changes Game for Pirates Offense

The Pirates actually took an early lead in this one, as center fielder Oneil Cruz led with a single, stole second base and moved to third base on an error, then scored off of a single from first baseman Ryan O'Hearn.

Pittsburgh struggled to do anything offensively after that, until right fielder Jake Mangum and shortstop Konnor Griffin hit back-to-back singles in the top of the fifth inning.

Cruz then looked like he hit a three-run home run, taking a sinker over the middle of the plate and sending it 110.6 mph off the bat and 399 feet to center field.

Rangers center fielder Evan Carter had other plans, timing the ball perfectly, jumping up at the fence and making the catch to end the inning.

The Pirates struggled throughout the game from the plate, with just six hits total and one walk.