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Photo provided by Eddie Provident\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto provided by Eddie Provident\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
PITTSBURGH \u2014 After a disappointing end to the first series of the homestand, the Pittsburgh Pirates rebounded by sweeping the Minnesota Twins in three games over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Bryan Reynolds delivered a walk-off win in the series opener with a two-run home run, giving the Pirates their first win this season when trailing after eight innings.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the Pirates grinded out a 10-9 slugfest to clinch a series victory, their sixth straight home series win against American League opponents.<\/p>\n
In the series finale the Pirates were able to enjoy a more comfortable win<\/a>. Braxton Ashcraft struck out a career-high 11 batters, Nick Gonzales hit his first home run of the season, and Ryan O\u2019Hearn went deep in his first at-bat off the injured list.<\/p>\n Here are three takeaways from a big weekend for the Bucs<\/p>\n What a Difference a Year (and a Little Bit of Money) Makes<\/p>\n Last season, the Pirates had a historically-bad offense that only managed to score 583 runs (3.6 runs per game) and 117 home runs on the season.<\/p>\n After a weekend in which the Pirates scored 25 runs on 31 hits, including seven home runs, the Pirates will shatter both lowly marks.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh ranks fifth in total runs on the season with 301, more than half last year\u2019s total just over a third of the way through this year. And they\u2019re now almost 60% of the way to matching their 2025 home run total.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hearn, who returned on Sunday after two weeks on the IL, and Brandon Lowe, have been huge additions to a lineup that has also seen plenty of internal improvement. Reynolds is having one of his best statistical seasons. Oneil Cruz looks desitned for a 30\/30 season. Spencer Horwitz, the team\u2019s top hitter from last season by a wide margin, is again performing well.<\/p>\n Gonzales is hitting over .300 and hit his first homer of the season, as did Jake Mangum, who had a key role in Saturday\u2019s win.<\/p>\n The offense is clicking, and it\u2019s a night and day difference between this year and last. <\/p>\n \u201cI thought we continued to have good at-bats throughout all the game, continued to keep the line moving and show some power throughout the lineup,\u201d said manager Don Kelly. <\/p>\n Mlodzinski Expected Back Soon<\/p>\n The biggest news on Sunday came just before first pitch when the Pirates placed Carmen Mlodzinski<\/a> on the restricted list just days after moving him from the rotation to the bullpen.<\/p>\n My immediate reaction was maybe he requested a trade, but general manager Ben Cherington squashed that idea when meeting with members of the media to address the decision. On the contrary, Mlodzinski did not feel mentally or physically ready to pitch on Sunday and didn\u2019t want to leave the team short-handed, according to a source familiar with the situation. <\/p>\n He\u2019s expected back with the Pirates for their upcoming series with the Astros in Houston, which starts Tuesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cCarmen is an elite competitor, and Carmen is going to pitch big innings for us and is committed to helping this team win,\u201d Kelly said after Sunday\u2019s game. \u201cWe\u2019ll see him soon.\u201d<\/p>\n When he does report back to the team, Mlodzinski should provide a boost in the bullpen. He\u2019s done it before \u2014 for most of his career, actually \u2014 and has done it well. He should receive plenty of bulk work as he has on a couple occasions this season but could also handle leverage situations as he\u2019s done in the past.<\/p>\n With Mlodzinski, and the emergence of rookie right-hander Wilber Dotel, a shaky Pirates bullpen looks to be in a better spot.<\/p>\n And the Pirates aren\u2019t closing the door on Mlodzinski starting games again. He could get chances this year. He could in the future. The current situation is \u201cfluid,\u201d as described by Kelly. <\/p>\n \u201cWe understood how strongly Carmen desires to start, how important that is to him,\u201d Cherington said. \u201cWe believe he can do that, he can be a starting pitcher and can be a starting pitcher in the future, also. But we made that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n No Hard Feelings<\/p>\n Derek Shelton, who managed the Pirates from 2020 until he was fired last May, returned to PNC Park for the first time as manager of the Twins. Minnesota hired Shelton to replace the ousted Rocco Baldelli in the offseason.<\/p>\n Shelton\u2019s return to Pittsburgh began with a trip to one of his favorite places in the city. He and his team paid a visit to The Clemente Museum, a place Shelton continually praised while with the Pirates.<\/p>\n The 55-year-old spoke about being back ahead of the first game of the series on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of good feelings,\u201d Shelton said when asked about being back. \u201cThe first opportunity to manage. A lot of friendships. A lot of people here that I care about. There are a lot of good thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n Shelton went 306-440 during his tenure as manager of the Pirates, though that record speaks more to the roster than his ability to manager. Could Shelton have done better with better players? I would assume so. But overall, he\u2019ll always look fondly about his time in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n \u201cI will never look back on it in a negative connotation, regardless of how anything went down, how it went,\u201d he explained. \u201cDo I wish we would have had better teams here? Yeah. Was some of that out of my control? Yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned in this article: Derek Shelton<\/a> Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> <\/p>\n