Carmen Mlodzinski pitched six shutout innings and led the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 2-0 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.

Marcell Ozuna and Nick Gonzales each had RBI singles in the first inning to give Pittsburgh’s pitchers all the run support they would need. Mlodzinski (1-0) struck out five, walked two, and gave up only two hits during his outing, which lasted 81 pitches. He entered the game following a scoreless first inning by Mason Montgomery as the Pirates’ opener.

Montgomery, Mlodzinski, Gregory Soto, and Dennis Santana combined for a three-hit shutout. Santana hit CJ Abrams with a pitch with one out in the ninth. However, Nasim Nunez and Drew Millas each flew out, as Santana picked up his second save.

The Pirates won for the 10th time in their past 14 games and recorded their second shutout of the season in a span of six days. Meanwhile, the Nationals picked up their second loss in three games and their first shutout loss this season.

Ozuna and Gonzales’s hits delivered the only runs allowed by Nationals starter Jake Irvin (1-2), who gave up four hits, walked three, and struck out five.

Ozuna continued to show potential signs of breaking out of an early-season slump, as he recorded a hit in his third consecutive game. He has four hits in his past 12 at-bats, after going 2-for-39 over his first 10 games.

Pittsburgh’s first inning rally started with two outs after Bryan Reynolds drew the first of three walks, and Ryan O’Hearn singled for the first of his team-high three hits. Reynolds extended his on-base streak to 14 consecutive games.

The Nationals left seven runners on base and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Curtis Mead had a one-out double in the first inning off Montgomery. Nevertheless, Daylen Lile grounded out, and Brady House struck out to end the frame.

CJ Abrams continued his strong start to the season with a two-out double in the sixth. But Mlodzinski struck out Joey Wiemer to end the inning.

–Field Level Media

Sal Stewart slugged a pair of three-run homers, Eugenio Suarez and Elly De La Cruz each hit solo shots, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the visiting San Francisco Giants 8-3 on Wednesday.

Stewart went deep for the second straight night and has seven homers to lead all rookies. Suarez went 3-for-4 and Spencer Steer had a pair of singles for Cincinnati, which has won three of its last four games.

Reds starter Rhett Lowder (2-1) allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts over a career-high 6 2/3 innings.

Daniel Susac doubled in two runs and had two hits for San Francisco, which lost its fourth straight.

Cincinnati claimed a 4-0 lead in the first inning against Tyler Mahle (0-3). With two on and one out, Stewart hit a three-run blast on a liner to right-center field. Suarez followed with his third homer, a 349-foot shot to right field.

The Giants responded with two runs in the second inning. Matt Chapman singled with one out, Jung Hoo Lee walked, and both scored on Susac’s double to left field.

Stewart struck again with a three-run homer in the bottom of the second following back-to-back walks to Matt McLain and De La Cruz.

Cincinnati moved ahead 8-2 on De La Cruz’s one-out homer to center in the fourth. The 442-foot blast was his sixth homer of the season.

Mahle gave up eight runs and eight hits with five walks over four innings against his former team.

Left-hander Brock Burke replaced righty Lowder with two on and two outs in the seventh. Heliot Ramos greeted Burke with a pinch-hit single to score Rafael Devers from third.

Jerar Encarnacion followed with a pinch-hit single to load the bases before Burke struck out Willy Adames on three pitches.

Adames went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts for San Francisco, which entered the game ranked last in the majors in runs (52), home runs (nine) and walks (34).

The Giants were out-hit 10-9 and fell to 1-11 this season when scoring three or fewer runs.

–Field Level Media

Max Homa has found quite a bit of success the last three years at the Masters.

Carrying that over to the RBC Heritage the following week has surprisingly proven a tough challenge.

Homa, coming off his third straight result among the top 12 at Augusta National, will look to follow that up with his first top-50 finish since 2020 at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

“(Harbour Town) should fit my game really well,” Homa said. “Unfortunately I haven’t played too well here, so hopefully this is the year.”

After tying for third at the 2024 Masters, Homa followed with a tie for 55th in the RBC Heritage, a signature event. He followed a tie for 12th last year in Augusta by finishing in 70th out of 72 competitors at the RBC.

Homa tied for ninth in this season’s first major, and he seems aware of why his success at Augusta National hasn’t carried over to Hilton Head.

It’s a common refrain heard about the tournament immediately after the Masters, and why a number of competitors often skip the event.

“That mental toll (the Masters) takes on you is pretty draining,” Homa said. “It is crazy how majors just feel like two weeks on you. Augusta is one of the few physical tests we have in golf. It’s quite a bear to walk and prep for.”

Complicating matters for Homa is the fact that his wife and two children under 4 — including one born last August — are with him for the road trip.

“It’s definitely interesting how tired I am. Now, granted, I do have two children, and one of them chose not to sleep last night, so it’s taking me longer to get back into, I guess, a fiery mode,” Homa quipped. ” … I would say by (Thursday) I’m sure my energy will be back and I’ll be ready to compete.”

Sleep deprived or not, Homa seems to have found something of late after a rocky 2025 season. He wound up last year 111th in the FedEx Cup standings, a far cry from the consecutive top-10 finishes he had in 2022 and 2023.

With a top-15 finish at the Cognizant Classic and three other top-40 finishes in addition to another strong Masters showing, Homa has rebounded early this season, sitting in 50th in the FedEx Cup rankings entering this week’s event.

He credits a return to working with coach Mark Blackburn as what has helped him trend once more in a positive direction.

“I went back to him in, I think, October, and we obviously put a lot of work in in the offseason, and he’s just been amazing,” Homa said of Blackburn. “We communicate so well. He seems very in tune with what makes me tick.”

–Field Level Media