The Pirates found themselves in a challenging situation when Martin Perez left Sunday afternoon's game after three innings due to a left groin injury. Perez's premature exit forced Derek Shelton to turn to his bullpen -- one that has struggled throughout the six-game homestand -- quicker than he would have liked to.
Carmen Mlozinski entered and allowed three earned runs over two innings before Aroldis Chapman and Kyle Nicolas later combined to surrender four runs of their own in another sluggish bullpen performance that ultimately resulted in the Pirates' 8-1 loss to the Braves at PNC Park.
"It's definitely something you don't wanna do, especially cause our starting pitching has been so good," Shelton said of having to turn to the bullpen due to Perez's injury. "Thankfully we're going into an off day so we're able to use guys and cover innings. It's extremely hard to cover innings against that lineup. For two days, we saw them stay dormant a little bit and then today we saw why they're such a good team."
This showing was just the latest in a string of inadequate pitching performances from Pirates relievers. Over the course of the last six games -- a span in which they collected three wins -- against the Giants and Braves, the bullpen covered 22 2/3 innings, sporting a collective 8.33 ERA. They allowed 23 runs (21 earned) on 31 hits with 11 walks and 21 strikeouts. Relief pitchers followed quality starts from members of the rotation in all but two of those games, including this one in which Perez allowed one run on four hits in three innings before departing.
Mlodzinski, who has made just four appearances since being recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis on May 15, was tasked with being the first man out of the bullpen after allowing three runs in a previous outing against the Giants on Wednesday. He surrendered a leadoff double to Travis d'Arnaud in the fourth and saw the run come across on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Orlando Arcia. An inning later, a Jarred Kelenic single and a walk to Ozzie Albies were followed by a two-run double by Matt Olson that made it 4-1.
"It just looked like he didn't get any swing and miss," Shelton said. "Too many balls in the middle. It seemed like every pitch they swung at they put in play."
In a situation where a relief pitcher has to prepare to cover innings due to an unforeseen injury, Mlodzinski said the challenge of getting ready is covered by adrenaline with things happening so quickly.
“You have to get ready quick, so your body just kind of takes over," he said. "It’s not so much about physically getting ready but definitely is more about mentally being able to lock in and understand, what is the expectation and how many innings are you going to have to cover to be able to fill in what was lost with the starter going out."
For Mlodzinski, the three-run showing all boiled down to mis-executing pitches. He threw a fastball down the middle that resulted in d'Arnaud's double and left a changeup over the plate to Olson.
“I thought all in all, I felt pretty good. My stuff was good. I wish I just had a few pitches back there," Mlodzinski said. "The changeup to Olson with the two-run double, that’s one you want to have back. But it’s a situation where if you do have that back, you probably say, ‘OK, you did your job.’
“Right now, (I'm) just trying to find the strike zone a bit more. I think I’ve struggled early on with consistently filling up the zone with all of the offerings that I have, so that’s been a focus with both mental and physical adjustments to be able to drive stuff through the zone. Then just some pitch-design stuff, to be able to make the adjustment year to year to have success again.”
Hunter Stratton, who experienced his own struggles with an outing against the Giants Thursday in which he allowed five runs on five hits in less than an inning, followed Mlodzinski and kept the Pirates' deficit at three by allowing a singular hit over two scoreless innings.
Chapman was handed the ball for the eighth and showed better command than when he walked three batters on 12 straight balls out of the zone on Wednesday. Only this time, he couldn't keep the ball in the park. He surrendered a pair of homers in a 26-pitch inning, one to Olson on an inside fastball and another on a 99 mph sinker down the heart of the plate to Adam Duvall.
"The control, I guess, has been an issue," Chapman said through interpreter and major-league coach Stephen Morales. "Today, I threw the pitches the way I wanted to. Just the two home runs, one was right down the middle and the other was a little in. They put two good swings on them, which happens."
Chapman hasn't looked like the pitcher the Pirates signed to a $10.5 million deal in hopes of bolstering the bullpen. He has a 5.19 ERA and a 1.90 WHIP through 23 appearances, and has 32 strikeouts along with a whopping 20 walks in 17 1/3 innings.
"Just working hard. Trying to do my best to get out of the funk that I have right now. Keeping my head up and keeping a positive attitude will help me a lot, like it's helped me in the past," Chapman said. "I think I'm getting closer. Today was a sign. All of my pitches were around the strike zone and my velo was up again. The two home runs, those will happen. But I feel like I am a lot closer to where I'm supposed to be."
The Braves scored two more runs off Nicolas in the ninth, as Kelenic doubled and scored on an RBI single by Albies. A sac fly by d'Arnaud capped the scoring.
"I think today, overall, Chapman's stuff was better. The velocity was back which I thought was encouraging. I know he gave up the two solo homers but one was 95, one was 99 he just left over the heart," Shelton said. "With Nicolas, he was on the plate today, which I think is an encouraging sign. He had that ball that fell in front of Bryan in no-man's land in the triangle, it was actually a pretty good pitch. The stuff was better which is a step in the right direction."
The Pirates entered Sunday with the fourth-worst bullpen ERA (4.85) in baseball. The group now holds a 5.03 ERA through 184 innings this season.
Given the consistency the Pirates' starters have provided with four quality starts during this past homestand and 27 this season, the bullpen is in desperate need of a turnaround. Perhaps a day off Monday and another Thursday will give the group a chance for a fresh start when they travel for a two-game series in Detroit and a three-game set in Toronto this week.
“The day off is super important but you’ve got to tip your hat to what Mitch and Bailey did (this series)," Mlodzinski said. "They covered a lot of innings for us this week. Those two alone probably saved our arms in the bullpen more than anything. Obviously, having the day off is going to be big for us going into the next series.”
