Pirates Shutout Nationals, Mlodzinski's Gem

0:00On April 17th, the Pittsburgh Pirates put off a slick, two-oh shut-out against the Washington Nationals at PNC Park, proving their bold pitching move is, paying off big time. They opened with lefty mace and Montgomery, instead of usual starter, Carmine Molizinski, and it clicked perfectly, holding the Nats scoreless early. Montgomery, fresh from that offseason trade with the Tampa Bay Rays that also naved second basement brand and low and outfielder Jake Mangum, stretched. The scoreless streak to four straight outings over the last six games. Meanwhile, Moldzinski jumped in from the second inning and owned it with six scoreless frames, just two hits, two walks, and five strikeouts, his, longest outing ever. Fans are buzzing about Molizinski's gym, the first time a Pirates reliever tossed at least six scoreless since 1992. He leaned heavy on his splitter at 42% usage, and 94.6 mile per hour forcing fastballs, fixing in sinkers, curves, and sweepers to keep Washington guessing.

1:02The offense kept it simple, plating both runs in the first inning. Brian Reynolds walked, Ryan O'Hern singled, Marcel O'Zuna drove one in, and Nick. Gonzalez hustled an infield hit to score the second. Just five hits total, but Pirates batters went two for five with runners in position. Now at eleven wins and seven losses, Pittsburgh tops the National League Central after three weeks, up two games to one in the series with a shot to sweep tomorrow. Stay tuned with MLB News today, AI-powered updates.