The right-hander also walked two and struck out four while posting a 30 percent whiff rate and 34 percent CSW. His sweeper and slider combination helped him to miss bats, and he did get 17 called strikes on the day, but he also gave up some hard contact and will now bring a 6.23 ERA into a start next week against Cleveland. You have to wonder when Bubba Chandler gets a chance.

Since Dave Mlicki picked up his 66th and final victory on Aug. 6, 2002, pitchers whose last names start with “Ml” had been 0-5 as starters. The streak is finally over now after Mlodzinski struck out six tonight. The Pirates might yet be better off with Mlodzinski working in the late innings as a reliever right now, but it’s not like trying the 26-year-old as a starter for a couple of months is going to cost them a postseason berth.

Mlodzinski kept Tampa Bay’s lineup off the scoreboard in the early stages of the contest, but things came unglued in the fourth inning when he was tagged for four runs on five hits, including run-scoring knocks from Rays rookies Kameron Misner and Jake Mangum, which chased him from the contest. He finished with four strikeouts and issued two walks. He’s not a recommended fantasy option next Monday when he faces the Cardinals at home.

Or rather, he’ll be one of the five starters for Pittsburgh, as the team hasn’t set the rotation outside of Paul Skenes starting Opening Day. The opening comes with Jared Jones (elbow) unavailable to start the year, and Mlodzinski wins the job over pitchers like Thomas Harrington and Bubba Chandler — for now. Mlodzinski is a former first-round pick, but doesn’t have the stuff to be a good option in fantasy formats.