Jason Mackey: Pitching plan works to perfection, as Pirates take series from Astros

HOUSTON — The pitching plan that encountered a hiccup at the outset worked to perfection on Thursday night.

Excellent timing for it, too.

With the Pirates looking to win a series against the Astros and bounce back from a brutal collapse the night before, Jared Jones and Carmen Mlodzinski combined to deliver the exact script the team had been hoping for during a 5-1 victory at Daikin Park.

Jones twirled five scoreless innings to earn his first win since Sept. 9, 2024. Mlodzinski closed the game with four more solid frames, allowing only a solo home run and earning his second career save.

“I don't think it could have gone any better,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “Jared and Carmen nailed it.”

They most certainly did.

Jones, who was amped up and occasionally erratic in his last start, allowed four hits and two walks and struck out four, finishing with 12 whiffs while throwing 74 pitches, 44 for strikes.

Three of those strikeouts came via changeups (two) or Jones’ curveball, both of which he’s been using more since returning from internal brace surgery.

“Kind of felt like it clicked a little better than last time,” Jones said. “Ball was coming out good. I was happy with it.”

After a 26-pitch first, Jones did well to average 12.5 pitches over his final four innings, giving the Pirates the perfect amount of length.

The most notable occurrence might’ve been in the first inning, when Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena hit a dribbler along the third-base line. Jones, a former outfielder who doesn’t lack for athleticism, tried to make an acrobatic, spinning throw.

It was a heck of an attempt but missed the mark by a few feet. The Pirates were initially concerned Jones might’ve hurt himself on the play, although he proved to be just fine.

“I tried to be an athlete in the first inning,” Jones said. “I was pretty close. [Konnor Griffin] told me I looked pretty athletic. I’ll take that.”

Jones’ five solid innings opened the door for Mlodzinski to make his first appearance since May 25.

While there might’ve been concerns over rust, Mlodzinski looked plenty sharp, firing 55 pitches, 36 for strikes. Mlodzinski didn’t walk anyone, struck out three and ended the game with a double play.

Using his sweeper four times as frequently as normal, Mlodzinski racked up seven whiffs on 24 swings. Oddly, he threw his splitter — Mlodzinski’s best pitch by a wide margin this season — just two times.

Whatever. It worked. Mlodzinski looked great and — along with Wilber Dotel on Tuesday — proved what an advantage this might be for the Pirates (34-29).

To help solve some of their bullpen issues, the Pirates simply might be able to use Mlodzinski and Dotel as piggyback “starters” and further space out their other relievers.

There are certainly particulars to work out, like when, for how long and coming off what type of rest these guys will pitch.

But it’s a smart, innovative strategy that figures to make the Pirates better by eschewing traditional pitching deployment.

O’Hearn and the offense

After the first of two doubles on the night for Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead with his single up the middle in the first. Lowe then started a four-run sixth with his other double.

Bryan Reynolds drove in Lowe with his single to center, this time on a two-strike sweeper from Astros starter Kai-Wei Teng.

The next hitter, O’Hearn, extended the Pirates’ lead to 4-0 with his ninth home run of the season, connecting on a belt-high fastball and sending it out to right field.

The two-run shot represented the 11th consecutive game with a homer for the Pirates, who last homered in 11 consecutive games Aug. 5-18, 2015.

“Can’t say enough about the offense,” O’Hearn said. “These guys have great at-bats every night. A lot of hard-hit outs. Still found a way to put up five runs. It was enough. I think we’re in a good spot right now.”

Pittsburgh got a fifth run when Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena failed to backhand a grounder off the bat of Jared Triolo, allowing Nick Gonzales to score to give the Pirates a 5-0 lead in the sixth.

The big takeaway here was O’Hearn. He hasn’t missed a beat since returning from a strained quad, and it’s pretty obvious what his bat does to lengthen an already pretty deep lineup.

The defense

Wednesday was a lousy defensive game for the Pirates. They sort of made up for it in this one.

Lowe jumped and snared a 115-mph liner from Yordan Alvarez in the third. Jake Mangum made a sliding catch to rob Isaac Paredes in the eighth. And Gonzales, who struggled more than anyone in the middle game of this series, made a great pick and got some help from Spencer Horwitz at first base to get the final out of the eighth.

“I thought our defense was really good, pitching was efficient, and we stacked at-bats together when we needed to,” Kelly said.

Around the horn

The series victory was the Pirates’ third in a row in Houston, the first time they’ve done that since this ballpark opened in 2000.

Lowe improved to .313 (20 for 64) with five home runs and 17 RBIs in 15 career games at Daikin Park.

Oneil Cruz reached base four times: two singles and a pair of walks. Over his past 27 plate appearances, Cruz has reached base 16 times while hitting .421 with three home runs, nine RBIs and more walks (8) than strikeouts (6). Only Milwaukee Jackson Chourio (1.577) has a higher OPS than Cruz (1.488) over the past six games.

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.