Jared Jones was untouchable for six innings Wednesday night, and the Pirates still walked away empty-handed.
The right-hander didn’t let a Braves hitter reach base, carving through Atlanta with eight strikeouts before Pittsburgh pulled him after 77 pitches. The decision was all about caution, not performance. Jones is still being handled carefully after elbow surgery, and the Pirates kept him in that familiar 70-80 pitch window even as he was rolling.
It was the sharpest outing Jones has delivered since returning from surgery on May 29 after a year away from the game. He had already flashed signs of getting back to form in Philadelphia nearly a week earlier, when he gave up just two hits and two walks over four innings. This time, he was even better.
Jones was at 67 pitches after five innings, and the Pirates still had nobody loosening in the bullpen. He kept Atlanta’s dangerous lineup in check from the jump, striking out Michael Harris II, Matt Olson and Drake Baldwin in their first two trips to the plate.
There was one loud scare along the way. In the third inning, former Pirates catcher Joey Bart sent a ball to left field that looked gone in every ballpark except this one, but Bryan Reynolds timed his leap at the wall and brought it back.
After another clean inning in the sixth, Jones got the kind of reception that said plenty about how well he had thrown. Hugs followed, and his night was done.
From there, the game slipped away from Pittsburgh. Mason Montgomery came on in the seventh and gave up a single to Ozzie Albies, a ball that got just off the glove of a leaping Nick Gonzales at third.
The score stayed locked at 0-0 until the eighth, when Bart broke it open with a two-run homer. The Braves added another run in the ninth, and the Pirates never answered in a 3-0 loss.
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For a club trying to balance immediate upside with long-term development, the fifth pick could come down to what kind of player the front office wants to bet on. Flora fits the profile of a polished college pitcher, while Booth offers the sort of younger, higher-risk ceiling that can appeal in the top half of the first round. The Pirates still have time before July 11-12, but the range of names already in play suggests this pick may not be as straightforward as it first looked. [Read more 🡒]