Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Bailey Falter will try to rediscover his May form when he opposes the visiting Miami Marlins on Wednesday afternoon in the decisive contest of a three-game series.
Right-hander Cal Quantrill will start for Miami.
In five starts during May, Falter allowed four runs (three earned) over 35 2/3 innings and compiled a 0.76 ERA, which was the third-lowest for a Pirates pitcher in a month since 1920.
However, in his most recent outing, on Friday against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, Falter (4-3, 3.49 ERA) lasted only 3 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs on five hits and walked two while striking out two.
Pirates manager Don Kelly removed him in the fourth inning with two outs and the bases loaded just before facing Trea Turner, who had already had two hits against him earlier in the game.
“Tough matchup there. Turner squared him up twice,” Kelly said after the game. “Felt like (Chase) Shugart was a much better matchup and thought the game could be on the line right there and having a fresh ‘pen with all of our guys. The bullpen came in and did a great job and gave us a chance to win.”
Shugart served up a game-tying two-run single to Turner, but Pittsburgh ultimately won 5-3.
The Pirates hope the outing was more of an aberration than a sign of any regression for Falter. Kelly credited Falter honing his pitch arsenal to complement his fastball better recently as a major factor for his turnaround.
Falter’s strong month was key to the Pirates’ improvement since Kelly took over as manager on May 8. Even after a 3-2 setback against the Marlins on Tuesday, Pittsburgh is 15-15 since making the managerial change. The Pirates had a 12-26 mark when the prior manager, Derek Shelton, was fired.
Falter delivered a quality start when he faced Miami on March 29. He threw six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and no walks with four strikeouts. The Marlins won that game 5-4 in 12 innings. Falter is 3-0 with a 4.08 ERA in nine career appearances (six starts) against the Marlins.
While Falter is trying to return to his winning ways, Quantrill is hoping to sustain his recent improved results.
Although he has not pitched past the fifth inning in any of his past four starts, Quantrill (3-6, 5.63 ERA) has been solid over that span, with a 2.95 ERA, 17 strikeouts and four walks over 18 1/3 innings during that span.
Unfortunately for the Marlins, those stats haven’t translated to team success, as he has taken two hard-luck losses in his past two starts.
If Quantrill can continue to put together strong outings, it would be a boon for a Marlins rotation that just welcomed back Eury Perez after a 20-month absence caused by Tommy John surgery and has seen former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara pitch more like himself over his past two starts. Alcantara beat the Pirates with six shutout innings on Tuesday.
“Cal is a good pitcher, you know, Cal is going to go out there and compete,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “He’s gonna throw the ball, and we just got to make plays behind him. He has been on a good run, and he’s been keeping us in each one of his games effectively, especially in the month of May.”
Quantrill, who has not faced the Pirates this season, is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA in five appearances (four starts) against Pittsburgh.
–Field Level Media
