Mlodzinski (1-0) earned the win Wednesday against the Nationals, allowing no runs on two hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out five.
Working in long relief behind opener Mason Montgomery, Mlodzinski delivered six sterling frames for the Pirates on Wednesday. It was easily the best outing of the year so far for the right-hander, who set a season high in innings and gave up a season-low two hits. Mlodzinski has a 1.77 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 20:8 K:BB over his first 20.1 innings (three starts), and it remains to be seen how Pittsburgh will opt to deploy him in his next scheduled appearance versus Texas.