Joey Bart's walk-off single, Carmen Mlodzinski's start earn Pirates series win over Braves

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on May 11, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PITTSBURGH — To earn the Pirates’ first series win in two-and-a-half weeks, catcher Joey Bart played hero against his hometown team.

Bart’s bases-loaded ninth inning grounder ended up in the right spot, scoring Adam Frazier from third and giving the Pirates a 4-3 walk-off win Sunday against the Atlanta Braves. The Pirates took two of three from Atlanta, earning their first series win since taking two of three from the Angels on April 22-24.

Bart finished the game 3 for 5 with three singles and two RBIs. Bart, an Atlanta native and Georgia Tech alum, went 7 for 9 with seven singles against the Braves during the series.

The Pirates were in position to win because right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski had the best start of his major league career. Mlodzinski threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings, outdueling Braves starter and reigning Cy Young winner Chris Sale.

The Pirates had some success against Sale from the beginning, with two singles in the first, but scored all their runs with some small ball in the fifth. Two reached with a Jared Triolo single and a Ke’Bryan Hayes dribbler up the third base line, then both advanced on a double steal. Triolo scored on a passed ball from Braves catcher Drake Baldwin, while Hayes scored on an Andrew McCutchen sacrifice fly. Bryan Reynolds walked, advanced to second on the throw on McCutchen’s sacrifice fly and then scored on a Bart single.

While the Pirates got a few against Sale, Mlodzinski was cruising. He allowed just four hits (including two soft-contact singles), walked one and struck out two.

Mlodzinski has struggled the second time through an order this season, but had no such trouble against the Braves. He’d faced exactly 18 batters in his last two starts, but because of his success, new manager Don Kelly allowed Mlodzinski to face four more and pitch into the sixth.

But Mlodzinski’s excellence was erased in a four-batter span in the eighth. Right-hander Tanner Rainey, a veteran reliever recently brought up from Triple-A Indianapolis, came in with two outs to face Austin Riley. He allowed a first-pitch single to Riley, then a second-pitch double to Matt Olson before walking Marcel Ozuna to load the bases.

Kelly summoned left-hander Joey Wentz to face a left-hander, but Braves manager Brian Snitker went to his bench for switch-hitter Sean Murphy. Murphy fouled off two two-strike pitches before clearing the bases and tying the game.

It was over when …

Dennis Santana pitched the ninth and earned the win. The Pirates loaded the bases off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias with singles from Frazier and Hayes and a McCutchen intentional walk, and with one out and the infield in, Bart hit a grounder between shortstop and third. Braves shortstop Nick Allen dove to field the ball, but could not throw home to get Frazier in time.

On the mound

Four Pirate relievers — Santana, fellow right-handers David Bednar and Chase Shugart and lefty Caleb Ferguson — were expected to be unavailable after pitching in back-to-back games.

Mlodzinski and lefty Ryan Borucki seemed to save the Pirate bullpen, but Rainey’s implosion put Kelly in a tough spot and forced Santana to throw in a third straight game.

Borucki completed two innings after getting the final out in the sixth, a scoreless seventh, and two outs in the eighth. He struck out two.

At the plate

The Pirates had 11 hits and left 11 on base.

Most valuable player

Although Bart was mobbed behind second base, Mlodzinski was the Pirates’ most valuable player. He kept the Pirates from burning through their bullpen, put them in position to win, and gave himself something to build off of as he continues to transition to a starting pitcher.

Up next

The Pirates will head to New York, where they’ll continue their stretch of nine games against NL East opponents with three games against the Mets and three more against the Phillies in Philadelphia. Paul Skenes (3-4, 2.77 ERA) will start Monday at Citi Field, facing Mets lefty David Peterson (2-2, 3.05).

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