Pirates' pitching woes continue after Bednar removed from closer role

CLEVELAND -- Manager Derek Shelton announced before Friday’s game against the Guardians that the Pirates would be removing David Bednar from the closer role for the short term, hoping to give the struggling right-hander some time to regroup in lower-leverage situations.

That didn’t solve the Pirates’ bullpen woes, though. Instead, it was Carmen Mlodzinski who took the loss after allowing home runs on consecutive pitches, the deciding blows in a 10-8 loss at Progressive Field.

The Pirates’ pitching woes of late extend well beyond Mlodzinski’s fifth inning. Bailey Falter in particular was candid about his four-inning, four-run performance, calling it “absolutely piss poor. Terrible, absolutely terrible.”

“Can't afford to have the bullpen in there in the fifth inning,” Falter said. “Like I said, just piss poor by me. Did not do my job tonight.”

Thanks to three consecutive two-run hits in the top of the fifth by Oneil Cruz and Andrew McCutchen plus a Rowdy Tellez two-run homer, the Pirates went to the bottom of the frame with a 6-4 advantage, but Jhonkensy Noel jumped on a Mlodzinski four-seamer to give the Guardians the lead again before Andrés Giménez jumped on a cutter on the next pitch for some insurance.

Domingo Germán would cover the back three innings, but couldn’t keep it an 8-7 game in the eighth, allowing two runs. Had he posted another zero, McCutchen’s ninth-inning home run could have tied the game.

It’s been another chapter in a horrible week for the bullpen, which has allowed 36 runs (34 earned) during the Pirates’ four-game losing streak. That inflates the team’s bullpen ERA to 4.65 -- the fourth-highest in the Majors -- while Mlodzinski took the 30th loss by a Pirate reliever this season, tied with the Marlins for the most losses by a bullpen in the National League. The Pirates’ 26 blown saves are tied for the most in the National League as well.

"I think we're looking for consistency from our bullpen,” said Shelton, who was ejected in the middle of the fourth after arguing a strike three call. “We're looking for consistency. [We] thought it was the right decision to go to Carmen there. His stuff should play there. We get [José] Ramírez 0-2 to start the inning, we don't execute and then the inning gets away from us."

The bullpen was expected to be the strength of the staff, as well as one of the strongest bullpens in baseball, coming into the season, but that has clearly not come to pass. Some of that can be attributed to injuries, being without Ryan Borucki and Dauri Moreta for the year, but they have also had several key players not live up to expectations, including Bednar.

Bednar has not looked the part of a two-time All-Star this year, going 3-7 with a 6.32 ERA, 23 saves and six blown saves, compared to just seven blown saves in his previous two years combined.

Health has been a recurring issue for him this year, missing almost all of Spring Training due to right lat tightness. He was able to start the season on the active roster, but struggled out of the gate, recording an 11.45 ERA through his first 13 games.

However, he started to resemble his old self, rattling off a stretch of 19 consecutive saves, but he hit the injured list again on June 23, and he has not been as effective since returning, allowing 16 runs (15 of which were earned) over his last 15 2/3 innings.

That included allowing five runs against the Cubs on Wednesday in a 14-10 loss, as the Pirates’ bullpen blew a seven-run lead in the final three innings.

“It’s something that will take a little pressure off of him,” Shelton said pregame. “We know that this guy has been really good over the last couple of years. Right now, he’s scuffling a little bit. So, we’re adjusting that up a bit to take a little bit off of him.”

The Pirates will be going with a closer by committee approach with Bednar out of the closer spot. They’ll have options, including Aroldis Chapman, but they’re going to need the entire unit to get better to protect those leads.

"It's like we talked about the other day, we've gotta finish innings,” Shelton said. “We've gotta execute. We didn't do that today.”