Bailey Falter sharp, Pirates put up 11 in win over Braves
Looking at the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting rotation, Bailey Falter is, in a sense, the odd man out.
Unlike Mitch Keller, who’s signed long-term, or Martin Perez, a major offseason acquisition, there’s not much of an organizational investment in Falter.
Nor does the 27-year-old possess the draft pedigree/potential of rookie phenoms Jared Jones and Paul Skenes.
But Falter has held his own this year, turning into a valuable member of the rotation.
Falter started Friday at PNC Park and was solid, pitching 7 1⁄3 innings in an 11-5 win over the Atlanta Braves before 35,822 fans.
Falter dominated for the majority of the night but allowed a three-run homer to Ronald Acuna Jr. with one out in the eighth inning, leading to his departure in favor of Luis Ortiz.
“Really consistent. He did a good job,” manager Derek Shelton said. “That’s a good lineup, and they can score fast, as we saw in the eighth. He did a really good job moving his fastball to both sides. I thought he executed the fastball probably better than he has all year.”
Falter (3-2, 3.55 ERA) picked up the win, allowing three runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts, throwing a season-high 97 pitches.
Nick Gonzales went 2 for 4 with four RBIs, Edward Olivares was 3 for 5 with two RBIs and Jared Triolo hit a two-run homer in the win.
Less than a week removed from tossing a career-best 7 2⁄3 innings against the Chicago Cubs on May 18, Falter again brought his “A” game, save for the Acuna Jr. homer.
“I just want to give these guys three pitches or less, first-ball strikes, no walks and I want to get these guys back in the dugout as quick as possible,” Falter said. “When we do that, good things like tonight tend to happen.”
Acuna’s homer ended Falter’s streak of 19 2⁄3 scoreless innings, the longest by a Pirates pitcher since Francisco Liriano managed 20 straight from Aug. 31-Sept. 17, 2014.
The Pirates (24-28) quickly jumped on Atlanta starter Ray Kerr.
Andrew McCutchen led off with a deep fly ball that hit the bottom of the left-field wall, resulting in a single. He moved to third on a double by Connor Joe.
Then, with two outs, Gonzales drove both runners in with a single to center field, giving the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
Joe led off the third inning with his second double of the game, taking third when Kerr made a wild pickoff throw that traveled into the outfield.
The Pirates went up 3-0 when Olivares singled Joe in with a line drive to center field.
After Olivares moved to second on a check-swing groundout by Gonzales, Kerr threw a wild pitch that allowed Olivares to take third.
From there, Kerr walked Oneil Cruz before Yasmani Grandal cleared the bases with an RBI double, putting the Pirates ahead 5-0.
Meanwhile, Falter was dealing.
A single by Acuna Jr. to lead off the fourth represented the first Braves runner of the night, but Falter quickly erased him, getting Ozzie Albies to ground into a double play.
In the fifth, the Braves put men on first and second with one out, but Falter got two popouts before Cruz made a nice barehanded play on a soft grounder, retiring Zack Short to end the frame.
Kerr (1-1, 5.40 ERA), Friday’s losing pitcher, was removed after four innings and replaced by Darius Vines, who did not fare much better, allowing a two-run homer to Triolo in the fifth.
Triolo’s third home run of the year plated Gonzales, who walked, and put the Pirates up 7-0.
Friday was the first time this season that all nine batters in the Pirates’ lineup recorded a hit.
“Hitting is very contagious,” Gonzales said. “(When) one through nine (are) swinging the bat well, good things are going to happen.”
The Pirates increased their lead to 10-0 in the sixth.
Olivares hit an RBI single off Vines to score McCutchen, who’d doubled, for the inning’s first run.
Joe, whom Vines hit with a pitch, advanced to third on Olivares’ hit before Gonzales knocked them both in with an RBI double.
In the seventh, the Pirates made it 11-0 thanks to a sacrifice fly by Michael A. Taylor.
After Falter left, Ortiz had a far from encouraging relief outing, walking two and allowing two runs before managing to end the eighth with his team ahead 11-5.
But Ortiz did retire the Braves in order in the ninth.
Over the last four games, the Pirates’ bullpen has allowed 14 earned runs.
Justin Guerriero is a TribLive reporter covering the Penguins, Pirates and college sports. A Pittsburgh native, he is a Central Catholic and University of Colorado graduate. He joined the Trib in 2022 after covering the Colorado Buffaloes for Rivals and freelancing for the Denver Post. He can be reached at jguerriero@triblive.com.
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