Bailey Falter takes no-hitter into seventh inning vs. Marlins

PITTSBURGH — By Bailey Falter’s assessment, he had a “terrible” pregame bullpen Wednesday afternoon. The Pirates needed him to cover innings after taxing their relievers in a bullpen game the night before, so he decided to not think and just throw.

“I came out there guns hot and told myself, ‘Dude, I’m just going to grip this and rip it and see where it takes us,’” Falter said.

That mindset took him to one of the best starts of his Major League career, in which he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning en route to 7 1/3 frames of scoreless ball as the Pirates completed the sweep of the Marlins at PNC Park Wednesday, winning 3-1.

“I hate to tip your cap to starting pitching, especially on the other side, but today was his day and he was just better than us today,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said.

Falter had been streaky since coming off of the injured list on July 30, not completing six full innings in any of his seven starts since then while posting a 5.52 ERA. He has been searching for his curveball throughout most of that stretch, but on Wednesday, it was his other breaking ball that elevated his performance.

Falter opened the game by striking out the side on 10 pitches, setting the pace for a career-high 18 whiffs. Of those swings and misses, 10 were with his slider, which also marked a personal best. Falter credited that to executing the fastball in a similar plane to the plate, too, which can allow the pitches to tunnel off of each other.

Looking at Falter’s 18 whiffs, almost all of them were to his glove side, usually down and in to the seven right-handed hitters the Marlins put in their lineup.

“I thought the ability to get in there with the fastball and the slider on the inner half of the plate [was key],” manager Derek Shelton said. “I thought he did a really good job executing against his arm side. That’s about as good as we’ve seen him in two years, at a time where we needed a big start.”

Falter knew he needed to give innings but didn’t know he was flirting with history in the process. While he had walked three, he did not surrender his first hit of the game until Jonah Bride blooped a single into left field with one out in the seventh. But there was no hazing or giving the silent treatment in the dugout to tip the team’s hand that Falter had something special going, or at least nothing out of the ordinary.

“I was kind of locked in, so usually the guys tend to stay away from me when they see me like that,” Falter said.

“It was really sick, actually, but not very cool to not talk to him for a while,” Jared Triolo, who homered in the win, said with a smile.

A performance like Falter’s on Wednesday certainly helps the Pirates a ton now that they can catch their breath before an off-day Thursday and the home stretch of the season. There’s still ball to be played, but it’s not too early to look into how Falter fits into a talented pool of starters for next year. When Pittsburgh acquired him at the Trade Deadline last year, the club didn’t know exactly what type of pitcher it had, giving him time as a starter, a reliever and someone who needed an opener.

After this year, though, Shelton confirmed, “he’s proven that he’s a Major League starter.”

“I’m very appreciative of that,” Falter said. “It doesn’t really matter to me — starting, bullpen, anything. I just want to do to my job, put up zeros.”