Roansy Contreras' final pitch Wednesday night was a spiked curveball. Enrique Hernandez chased, catcher Jason Delay blocked it and the 22-year-old right-hander walked off the mound at PNC Park.
The last two words of that sentence were the most important. After a planned midseason shutdown to manage innings and a build up with Class AAA Indianapolis, Contreras returned to the majors Wednesday, giving the Pirates' rotation not only a fifth member, but one of its most promising young arms again.
It was ultimately a mixed bag, showing occasionally spotty control and an inconsistent fastball while allowing four runs, but he was still able to match a career-best six innings and seemed to get stronger as the game went on in an 8-3 Pirates loss to the Red Sox.