ST. LOUIS -- Bubba Chandler got most of the “firsts” out of the way during his dazzling debut last Friday, but he was still looking for perhaps the biggest one -- his first big league win.
Not anymore.
Chandler, baseball’s top pitching prospect, earned his first decision in career appearance No. 2 as the Pirates beat the Cardinals 2-1 on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.
“Just taking it one pitch at a time, one out at a time, just trying to set a routine to get in the bullpen, and try to stick to it and be confident and comfortable when I go out there,” Chandler said. “And I feel like our staff has done a good job with me of just trying to ease the nerves and all the stuff that you get as a reliever and not a starter.”
Chandler, just as he did in his debut -- when he earned his first save -- pitched four scoreless innings in relief. He struck out three, walked one and allowed just one hit.
His pitch count jumped from 40 to 53. His fastball reached at least 100 mph seven times, and he got eight swings and misses.
“He's attacking the strike zone and going after it, just allowing his stuff to play,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “He's just out there. He's being athletic. He's being that bulldog that we know he is. And just looking forward to him continuing to attack in that way. And you see the stuff, it's electric, it's elite.”
Chandler entered the game in the fourth inning with the Pirates trailing 1-0. After cruising through a clean nine-pitch fourth, he worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth.
Chandler had a relatively stress-free sixth and seventh, striking out three and allowing just one baserunner on a hit by pitch.
The 22-year-old righty did have a close call on his first offering to Willson Contreras in the sixth, but the Cardinals slugger’s deep drive faded foul along the left-field line.
“I assumed he was swinging 0-0,” Chandler said. “So I thought an 80 mph curveball would get him out front. It did, but off the bat I was like, ‘No way. Like, my first homer I gave up is off my curveball, whatever.' Kind of a little bit of luck right there. You know, I think the wind was blowing to the left.”
Chandler came back to strike out Contreras and then Nolan Gorman on a 3-2 changeup.
Isaac Mattson pitched a perfect eighth and Dennis Santana worked the ninth to earn his 10th save as Pirates pitchers combined to allow just four hits.
The strong pitching performance allowed the team to pull out a win on a night when the offense mustered just three hits against Cardinals ace Sonny Gray.
The Pirates’ bats came alive in the sixth to put Chandler in position for the win. After a Contreras error helped load the bases with no outs, Tommy Pham delivered a two-run single, scoring Jared Triolo and Spencer Horwitz to give Pittsburgh the lead.
Carmen Mlodzinski got the start, his first since Aug. 17, and allowed one run on three hits. He struck out four and walked three.
Mlodzinski finished on a high note, pitching out of a two-on, one-out jam in the third by collecting back-to-back strikeouts of Alec Burleson and Contreras.
“We went to the splitter, and it got the swing and miss we needed with those two hitters there to end the third inning,” Mlodzinski said. “Just kinda hand the ball off to Bubba and watch him do his thing.”
Isiah Kiner-Falefa had a single and a double after recording a multihit game on Tuesday as the Pirates won for the sixth time in their last seven games. He is 13-for-37 (.351) with four doubles in his last 11 games against the Cardinals.
Chandler is one of five Major League pitchers to earn a save and a win in his first two Major League games since saves became an official stat in 1969.
Still, Kelly wouldn’t commit to a quick move into the rotation for Chandler.
“He's done everything that we could have asked, as far as dominating the outings,” Kelly said. “Just going to have some conversations and see where the chips fall, but he's doing everything that he needs to do.”
For now, Chandler is simply enjoying his first win and preparing for his next appearance.
“I wanted to get a Major League win,” Chandler said. “Didn't know if it was going to come last week, this week, in two years, whatever. But it's definitely cool. And, yeah, I’ll always remember Busch Stadium.”