PITTSBURGH — Last time Zach Thompson was on the mound, before right elbow nerve inflammation put him on the 15-day injured list, he put together a solid, 4 1/3-inning, two-run effort against the San Francisco Giants.
That outing polished off a nine-outing stretch in which Thompson had a 2.48 ERA, starting in the beginning of May and running right up until his injury. That, in part, is what made the timing of the injury so cruel. After stumbling to a 10.80 ERA in his first three starts, Thompson had gotten back on track and was pitching as well as anyone in the Pirates’ rotation. Anything to derail that would be inopportune.
Thompson returned Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers, though, and gave the Pirates pretty much more of the same. He tossed four scoreless innings to begin the game, allowed a two-run homer in the fifth to Brewers catcher Omar Narváez and exited with two outs in that inning having thrown 67 pitches.
