The Pittsburgh Pirates optioned right-handed pitcher Khristian Curtis back to Triple-A Indianapolis Sunday morning ahead of their series finale vs. the Cleveland Guardians.
Curtis’ departure returns the Pirates’ active roster to 26 players.
Curtis made his MLB debut in Game 2 of the Pirates’ doubleheader Saturday at Progressive Field and shined over five scoreless innings in relief.
The 24-year-old, ranked as the Pirates’ No. 21 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline, allowed two hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts just a few hours after having his contract selected from Triple-A.
He threw 42 of his 68 pitches for strikes, contributing the longest relief outing by a Pirate in their MLB debut since Steve Blass on May 10, 1964.
Departing the game following the sixth inning, Curtis was in line for a victory, but Brandon Eisert, Gregory Soto and Dennis Santana were ineffective in closing the game out.
After Cleveland tied the game at three in the eighth, Santana served up a walk-off two-run homer to Travis Bazzana for a 5-3 Guardians win.
This season in the minors, Curtis is 2-8 with a 4.96 ERA.
At Triple-A, he’s gone 2-1 with a 5.57 ERA, striking out 30 with 15 walks in 21 innings.
