Brault's efficient outing not enough vs. LA

LOS ANGELES -- After spending four months on the injured list with a left lat strain, Steven Brault got off to a strong start to his delayed 2021 season with his first two outings. That strong trend continued on Monday night in the left-hander’s most efficient outing to date.

In his third start since coming off the IL, Brault threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Dodgers in the Pirates’ 2-1 loss to Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium.

• Box score

“I thought he was outstanding,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I thought the changeup was the best it's been in the three outings that he's had. [He] executed the fastball really well. He pitched really well. He gave us a chance to win the game. I don't think he could have pitched any better than he did.”

Brault’s scoreless effort was also preserved by help from rookie Nick Mears’ relief appearance with two outs in the sixth. Brault gave up a one-out single to Trea Turner and plunked Max Muncy with a sinker. Brault then got Albert Pujols to pop out for the second out before Shelton turned to the bullpen with the right-handed-hitting Justin Turner stepping up to the plate.

Mears walked Turner on four pitches, but settled down and retired AJ Pollock in the next at-bat to escape a bases-loaded jam.

Brault said seeing Mears work out of the jam energized him in the dugout.

“[Mears] may have [seemed] a little nervous with that walk first, but that's going to happen sometimes,” Brault said. “He locked it in and he got that out and that was huge. I was the first person to greet him when he came in the dugout because that's awesome for him to be able to do, and selfishly, that's nice for me, too, because those runs didn't score. It was great to see and you could just tell he was just fired up. I love that.”

Brault got through the first five innings without much trouble. He allowed a leadoff single to Trea Turner, but then limited the Dodgers to a walk before Chris Taylor singled with one out in the fifth inning.

Brault said the biggest aid to his night was throwing his fastball and changeup effectively.

He threw 76 pitches (50 strikes) and had a 38 percent whiff rate, while keeping Dodgers hitters to a 85.4 mph average exit velocity on balls they put in play, according to Statcast. Brault generated five swings-and-misses on his changeup, and credited pitching coach Oscar Marin for the effectiveness of the offspeed pitch.

“That's all Oscar,” Brault said. “... We worked hard together on getting that changeup back to where it needs to be and it's cool when it's like a quick fix like that for it to be back, so that was nice."

In his three starts this season, Brault has worked under pitch limitations. He has a 1.84 ERA in 14 2/3 innings to go along with a 0.89 WHIP.

Brault said with outs in early counts and solid defense behind him, he was able to execute his game plan.

“I think that one of the things I talk about a lot is I want to have as low a pitch count as possible, trying to get an out with every pitch that I throw,” he said. “So for that to come to fruition against a really good team, like the Dodgers, is really nice. Getting early-count outs is really big for me, relying on my defense. They made some nice plays. Ke'Bryan [Hayes] is a joke. He's so friggin' good at third base. But it's nice to have those guys back there and try to keep them engaged.”