ST. LOUIS -- Carmen Mlodzinski hadn’t inherited a runner since Aug. 9, 2025.
But when he entered the game on Saturday against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, Mlodzinski faced a bases-loaded jam in a tie game and Jordan Walker, with his 27 homers and 97 RBIs to boast, at the plate.
“I really didn't think too much of it, honestly,” Mlodzinski said. “Just kind of had the idea to go and execute the pitches. … It's definitely been a little bit since I've been thrown into one of those [situations], for sure.”
Mlodzinski needed just one pitch to escape. An 85.7 mph splitter retired Walker as the right-handed slugger hammered a ball to center field, but right at Oneil Cruz to keep the game tied entering the fourth inning.
Mlodzinski’s 3 1/3 innings in relief helped Pittsburgh to a 6-2 win over the Cardinals. He filled the bulk of a bullpen game for the Pirates that resulted in just two runs and three hits allowed. The Bucs now have a chance at their fourth series win in their last five tries with a victory in the finale.
As catcher Rafael Flores Jr. saw it, Mlodzinski was “cold-blooded.”
“It just goes to show how much heart he has,” Flores said. “He's able to stay focused in a tough situation -- a really good hitter is up. I think anybody in that moment could have just got real tight and could have exploded that inning. But he was cool, calm, collected and he got through it.”
Mlodzinski felt the results were coming despite not seeing them in the box score. He’s proven to be a reliable reliever, but a below-average starter. His 5.85 starter ERA is a far cry from his 2.53 ERA out of the bullpen entering Saturday.
While allowing three runs on five hits last time out against the Dodgers, Mlodzinski looked at the positive side after that outing, noting he didn’t walk a batter. Mlodzinski did the same after keeping the ball in the zone to take down St. Louis.
“I thought today was better,” Mlodzinski said. “Kind of built off of the outing I had in L.A. Looking back to that outing, it wasn't the cleanest box score. But again, no walks, so I take my chances going after guys in the zone and just making guys beat you with strikes.”
The Pirates have experimented all season how to effectively use Mlodzinski based on the team’s needs. Mlodzinski was available Friday night if needed despite returning primarily to a once-every-fifth-day pitcher. When asked pregame if Mlodzinski would be locked into the role he’s in for the rest of the season, Pirates manager Don Kelly said they take their pitching plans day by day, and there wasn’t a final solution.
Mlodzinski started in the rotation with Jared Jones out, switched to the bullpen once Jones returned and moved back as a bulk starter when Mitch Keller went down. Since the Keller injury, Mlodzinski has posted a 12.71 ERA in 11.1 innings, moving out of a starting role with Lake Bachar opening for him.
“It's tough when you're switching roles like that to go from starting to the bullpen and then back to a more stable every four or five days type thing,” Kelly said pregame. “For him, going through that, that's hard when you're talking about transitioning your routines and changing up how you prepare and how you recover.”
After Mlodzinski stymied Walker, Pittsburgh then gave him a lead to work with. Jake Mangum reached third on a single and a two-base error from Joshua Báez. Jacob Gonzalez then scored Mangum on a bloop single.
Mlodzinski came out for the fourth inning with some of his best stuff, using a splitter to get Nolan Gorman to chase and a sweeper to strike out Báez. The Pirates offense gave Mlodzinski an even greater cushion with Flores going deep to build a four-run lead.
Kelly described Mlodzinski’s outing as “flatlining” to keep the Cardinals at bay. He followed with another efficient inning, retiring the side in order and winning two battles despite falling behind in the count. His confidence soared as in the sixth, he challenged a ball with ABS and won it.
Mlodzinski induced two ground balls that should’ve brought him through the inning with ease, but Gonzalez misplayed both, making consecutive errors. A lazy fly ball to center field was then dropped by Oneil Cruz, making matters worse and scoring an unearned run. Still, Mlodzinski held his ground, leading to a needed victory and a major bounce-back outing.