Carmen Mlodzinski Joins Exclusive Pirates List With Dominant Win
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PITTSBURGH — Carmen Mlodzinski had a different role than he's had in 2026 in his most recent game, but he put himself amongst some greats in Pittsburgh Pirates history.
The right-handed pitcher came out of the bullpen for the first time this season and proceeded to throw six scoreless innings in the 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals at PNC Park on April 15. He allowed just two hits and two walks, while posting five strikeouts over 81 pitches from the second through seventh innings.
Mlodzinski is the first Pirates relief pitcher to throw at least six scoreless innings since left-handed pitcher Steve Cooke threw seven scoreless innings in a 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Three Rivers Stadium on Sept. 21, 1992.
He is also one of six Pirates relief pitchers that threw at least six scoreless innings and allowed just two hits or less in the Expansion Era (Since 1961).
- Harvey Haddix (8.0 IP, 2 H) - 9/13/1961 at Los Angeles
- Al McBean (6.0 IP, 2 H) - 6/16/1963 [G2] at St. Louis
- Vernon Law (6.0 IP, 1 H) - 8/24/1966 vs. Philadelphia
- Dock Ellis (6.2 IP, 0 H) - 7/7/1968 [G1] at Chicago
- Bob Johnson (7.2 IP, 2 H) - 7/5/1972 at Houston
- Carmen Mlodzinski (6.0 IP, 2 H) - 4/15/2026 vs. Washington
Mlodzinski Comes In Interesting Situation vs. Nationals
Mlodzinski had started his first three games of the season, but the Pirates decided that they would have left-handed relief pitcher Mason Montgomery get the start and then Mlodzinski come in afterwards.
This was mostly a matchup decision from Pirates manager Don Kelly, as the Nationals have great left-handed batters and Montgomery came into this game with nine strikeouts against 10 left-handed batters on the season.
Mlodzinski had struggled vs. left-handed batters before this outing, with a .355 batting average allowed and a 1.95 WHIP.
He went into this series knowing that this was a possibility, but that he wants to be a starter for every situation, which means improving against lefties moving forward.
"I'm going to do whatever they ask me to at the end of the day," Mlodzinski said. "I think it's a reality check for me. Also I need to be better against left handed batters. I want to progress as a pitcher and be able to handle both sides of the plate equally. Especially as a starting pitcher, it's super important. I don't want to just be a matchup based pitcher. Little bit of a reality check to be able to push forward and say I need to be better getting left-handed hitters out."
Mlodzinski should return to his starting role moving forward and Kelly was impressed with how Mlodzinski operarted out of the bullpen and that his performance got the team a crucial win.
"I mean, it was great," Kelly said. "We talked about him as a competitor, but then talking about him as a teammate and the selflessness to go out in the 'pen and come in behind Mason. When we talked the other day, I think any starting pitcher would prefer to start the game and his mindset going into it was whatever we feel is best and gives us the best chance to win. I think he showed that in the outing today."
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.