The Jared Jones-Carmen Mlodzinski piggyback falters as the Athletics throttle the Pirates

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jun 16, 2026

Published in Baseball

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Before Monday’s game at Sutter Health Park, Pirates manager Don Kelly was asked about the game plan for Jared Jones and Carmen Mlodzinski moving forward.

“We have to see how today goes,” Kelly said in part.

This game couldn’t have gone much worse.

Jones struggled, allowing five runs in four innings. The Pirates managed little offensively. And Mlodzinski started well before the defense collapsed behind him, giving the Pirates just three innings in relief as the Athletics throttled them 11-2.

The Pirates, who have lost eight of 10, dropped below .500 for the first time since improving to 3-3 on April 1.

Mlodzinski, whom Kelly said was unavailable through the weekend after throwing 76 pitches in relief against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, came in with the Pirates down 5-1 and threw 75 pitches. He projects to be sidelined again until the weekend series in Colorado.

In his four innings, Jones allowed eight hits and a walk. He allowed two-run homers to both Nick Kurtz and Jeff McNeil. The Kurtz homer, on a sweeper at the bottom of the zone, was good hitting — but eight hits in four innings, plus six in the first two, show adjustments are needed.

Mlodzinski largely cruised through the first 2⅔ innings, with the lone blemish a fifth-inning run on two defensive misplays. A grounder got past Spencer Horwitz for a single, then a sliding Ryan O’Hearn couldn’t come up with a soft double.

But everything unraveled with two outs in the seventh. Brandon Lowe booted a grounder, then a Lawrence Butler double brought in one unearned run. Henry Bolte beat out an infield single when third baseman Tyler Callihan couldn’t get the ball out of his glove. Jeff McNeil brought in another unearned run with a single. And Kurtz punished the first real mistake Mlodzinski made, a fastball over the middle, for a three-run homer.

In short, the road trip couldn’t have gotten off to a more sour start.

It was over when ...

... Jones allowed a two-run homer to McNeil to give the Athletics a 5-0 lead in the fourth. While Sutter Health Park has been offense-friendly, the game felt decided.

On the mound

Both of the Pirates’ first two hurlers threw 75 pitches. Mlodzinski allowed seven hits, all on either defensive misplays or after the third out should have been recorded.

Dennis Santana pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning with two strikeouts.

At the plate

Endy Rodriguez was the lone Pirates positive at the plate, going 3 for 3 with a solo homer in the eighth. Down 10 runs, Rodriguez only briefly put the welder’s mask on.

Athletics starter J.T. Ginn allowed one unearned run in six innings, striking out three.

Bucs bites

• Nick Gonzales started at shortstop with Callihan at third. Kelly said pregame it was a day off for Jared Triolo, calling him the Pirates’ best defensive shortstop.

• The Pirates started the sixth with two singles and a fielder’s choice against Ginn, but Callihan and Jake Mangum could not bring in a run. The Pirates trailed 6-1 at the time.

Up next

The Pirates will look to return to .500 on Tuesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 9:40 p.m. Right-hander Mitch Keller (5-4, 5.14 ERA) will look to stop his skid against Athletics right-hander Jack Perkins (2-3, 6.25). The game will be televised locally on SportsNet Pittsburgh, nationally on MLB Network and broadcast on the radio on 93.7 The Fan.

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