ST. LOUIS – Jake Mangum held his glove aloft, a key out in Wednesday’s game secured. Yohan Ramirez pointed toward right field and held his hand over his heart.
More times than anyone cares to count, these moments have gone against the Pirates this season. But Wednesday at Busch Stadium, Pittsburgh avoided another bullpen breakdown and eventually hit enough that nobody needed to worry about raised heartbeats.
The result was a 7-0 victory over the Cardinals that Don Kelly’s team hopes to transform into something more, ideally starting a run the other way after snapping a four-game losing streak.
“Everyone is working really hard in here, and we’ve got a great clubhouse,” Mangum said. “Just gotta build off this win.”
Pirates relievers combined for four scoreless innings in support of Carmen Mlodzinski, who continues to state his case to remain in the starting rotation whenever Jared Jones returns.
Meanwhile, Konnor Griffin enjoyed his second four-hit game at this level while all but one player in the Pirates’ starting lineup had a hit.
“It’s just the character of the team,” Mangum continued. “We’ve got a lot of ball left, and we’re gonna get rolling.
“This is a very tight-knit group that genuinely cares about each other.”
Following Mlodzinski and Ramirez, Evan Sisk, Justin Lawrence and Dennis Santana slammed the door shut. They didn’t allow a hit, run or walk and struck out four. Overall, it was a crucial bounceback outing for the group, especially those final three.
The Pirates (25-24) amassed 15 hits against the Cardinals, and two-thirds of them came from the bottom four hitters in the order: Griffin, Endy Rodriguez, Jhostynxon Garcia and Mangum.
Rodriguez, Garcia and Mangum all had two apiece, with the foursome combining for two RBIs and four runs scored.
It marked the second four-hit game of Griffin’s career, raising his batting average this season to .278 (with a .738 OPS). Since turning 20 on April 24, Griffin is now hitting .348 (32 for 92) with nine extra-base hits, 12 RBIs, seven walks, six steals and 16 runs scored in 24 games.
“Isn’t that amazing? He grew up,” Kelly joked before turning serious. “You’re seeing him continue to get more comfortable, continue to grind through at-bats and impact the game. He’s doing great.”
Griffin continues to grow
Let’s pause on Griffin for a second. As he did his postgame interview next to Mangum, the Mississippi boys joking that it would save everyone some time, he reflected some on his journey to this point.
This is what those two talked about while training together this offseason. Mangum also promised Pirates fans they’d be thrilled that Griffin will remain a Pirate for a long time – and it’s doubtful anyone will disagree.
But we really are seeing a different level with Griffin. Whether it’s newfound comfort or there was so much swirling in his head early on, Griffin has gotten more and more impressive with each game he’s played.
Was there anything to the whole bounce house thing and homering on his birthday? Did it jar something loose?
“That was the first night I was able to showcase who I am as a player,” Griffin said of his three-hit game in Milwaukee and what has followed. “I was stealing bases and driving the ball in the gaps. That’s who I am, and that’s who I can be every single day. That’s the expectation. I want to be the best player I can be and give the Pirates a lot of nights where I’m getting on base four or five times a game.”
Whatever Griffin has been doing it, here’s some free-and-easy advice: keep doing it.
More offense
Spencer Horwitz has been arguably the Pirates’ hottest hitter of late, and he gave them a 1-0 lead with his fourth home run of the season, the bomb coming off Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy in the second inning.
With a .333 average and .923 OPS this month prior to Wednesday’s game, Horwitz connected on a 2-1 curveball and pulled it over the right-field fence. It extended his hitting streak to five games. It also represented the fourth straight game against St. Louis where he’s driven in a run.
Garcia, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday, extended the Pirates’ lead to 2-0 with his single in the fourth inning. Getting a middle-middle sinker, Garcia hit a grounder to center field for his first MLB RBI.
Gonzales added a sacrifice fly in the sixth before a four-run eighth made this a bit of a laugher.
Mlodzinski grinds
Mlodzinski worked around traffic in four of his five innings. A double play closed the third, while Mlodzinski stranded a two-out double from center fielder Victor Scott II in the fifth.
In all, Mlodzinski worked five scoreless frames and threw 95 pitches. Over his past three outings, he’s logged 16 total innings while giving up four earned runs. After Wednesday’s outing, Mlodzinski’s ERA sits at 3.96.
“I thought I threw the ball well,” said Mlodzinski, who threw 61 of his 95 pitches for strikes. “Pitch count got a little higher than I wanted it to through five. I was able to stay out of trouble. I thought the bullpen kind of did the same thing. Wasn’t a perfect day for us pitching-wise. But you have a shutout, you did well enough.”
It was an elongated first inning for Mlodzinski (who had to counter 20 foul balls) but credit to him for sticking it out. He also said he picked up on the Cardinals taking against him early and tried to do a better job filling up the zone 0-0.
“I didn't do it perfectly, honestly, throughout the game, but I at least had the intent of trying to drive stuff more in-zone,” Mlodzinski said.
In 11 career appearances (four starts) against St. Louis, Mlodzinski is 3-0 with a 1.75 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings.
With the strong possibility Jones will return within a week or so, it’ll be fascinating to see what the Pirates do with Mlodzinski, who has pitched plenty well enough to stick in the rotation. He would also help the bullpen if deployed that way.
Salting it away
The Cardinals threatened in the sixth against Ramirez, loading the bases with one out. Ramirez definitely experienced some turbulence, but he got out of the jam by striking out shortstop Masyn Winn on a sinker and via Mangum’s sliding catch on the warning track.
Sisk spun a much less eventful seventh, retiring the side in order, before the Pirates offense rallied once last time to turn this one into a laugher. Pittsburgh scored four runs in the eighth, starting with Mangum’s single to right on a ball way off the plate.
Gonzales made it 5-0 by lining a sinker to right, and Bryan Reynolds brought home two more with his double to left on a hanging sweeper. All night the Pirates hit plenty of Cardinals mistakes, something that didn’t happen 24 hours prior.
“It’s gonna take everybody,” Griffin said. “We’ve got a really good team and a lot of depth. Everybody is working their tail off to do their job when that time comes. We’ve got faith in everybody, and it’s going to be a fun rest of the year.”
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.