Bednar's roaring redemption rips up Dodgers at wild finish

LOS ANGELES -- Derek Shelton checked with pitching coach Oscar Marin to see how David Bednar was. He had just thrown 27 pitches in the bottom of the eighth, by itself almost a season-high.

That elongated inning resulted in two Dodgers runs, giving them the lead going into the ninth.

"Definitely came in the dugout just incredibly frustrated," Bednar said.

But when the Pirates rallied to get the two back on a Michael Perez hit, a Freddie Freeman error and a pair of slides home by Diego Castillo and Michael Chavis, Bednar had a chance at redemption.

After another check-in from Marin, the pitching coach told Shelton that he was good for another turn. 23 pitches later, Will Smith went down swinging, and the Pirates completed the comeback and won at Dodgers Stadium, 6-5.

50 pitches in one outing. When was the last time Bednar did that?

"Probably some WPIAL days, probably some Patriot League at Lafayette College," he said with a chuckle.

The Pirates needed every one of them. Chris Stratton, Wil Crowe and Duane Underwood Jr. were all unavailable because they had pitched the day before. Dillon Peters had already gotten four outs Monday. The last two innings were pegged for Bednar if the team had the lead.

That pitch count was on everyone's mind though, except Bednar. He purposefully made sure he didn't know how many pitches he had thrown.

"He's built like an ox," Shelton said. "I think 50 would have been the max, though."

“He’s a beast," Castillo told me. "Every time he comes in from the bullpen, good things are going to happen.”

Castillo said that when Bednar enters in a situation like he did in the eighth, he's going to pitch well in "99%" of those games.

Hey, the team picked him up and they even won in that other one percent.

"That says more than anything," Bednar said. "Whenever things are going well, it’s easy. That’s the thing personally that I was most proud of, just going back out there and having that gritty outing and ultimately coming up with the win."

GETTY

Catcher Tyler Heineman reacts to the win.

• I mean, look what the Dodgers were up against:

How many pitchers get Ninja'd on the day they blow a save? Not many.

• Like Saturday's comeback win over the Padres, Castillo got things started in the ninth with a walk against Craig Kimbrel. After advancing on a wild pitch, Perez, who had a .093 batting average, blooped one to right and Castillo got the hand in before Smith applied the tag.

"To run with [right fielder] Mookie [Betts] right there, that takes some stones to do that for that to be the tying run," Shelton said.

Perez advanced to second on the throw home, and the pinch-runner Chavis was able to also make it to the plate after Freeman flubbed Cal Mitchell's bouncer:

“The game doesn’t end until out No. 27," Castillo said. "... That’s how we play baseball.”

• Zach Thompson's final line was soured a bit by back-to-back homers by Hanser Alberto and Betts in the fifth, but those were the only two runs he allowed on the evening in 5 2/3 innings of work, keeping the Dodgers off balance with his cutter, four-seamer and curveball.

After a very rough April, he had a solid month of May, recording a 2.45 ERA (seven earned runs over 25 2/3 innings). One last plug to my Mound Visit earlier this month explaining what he did differently in May.

• Tucupita Marcao rejoined the Pirates from Class AA Altoona at the start of this road trip and has put together some good at-bats in his short time in the majors. That's highlighted by this shot off of Walker Buehler to open the scoring in the second:

That's career tater No. 1 for Marcano in the majors.

"It’s incredible," Marcano said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez. "It’s an incredible feeling to be able to hit my first home run here at Dodger Stadium. It’s something that I’ll never forget. It’s something that I’ve worked hard for, something I’ve been looking for. To be able to do it right here, right now, in this game is amazing."

• That's career win No. 100 for the skipper.

"I think you care about every major-league victory," Shelton said. "It's taken me awhile to get to 100. Anytime you click a milestone, it's kind of cool."

• Handful of roster moves to report Monday, the most notable being that Cole Tucker was designated for assignment. More on that here.

The Pirates and Guardians announced the trade for Yu Chang, who was acquired for cash considerations. He will see most of his playing time at first 

"Against left-handed pitching, we now have options," Shelton said. "We’ve been very left-handed against left-handed pitching."

Hoy Park was optioned to open up a spot on the major-league roster.

• Minor-league injury note: Shortstop Oneil Cruz has a low grade one ankle sprain, which is why he was removed from Class AAA Indianapolis' game Sunday. He has received treatment and will be reassessed Tuesday to determine his availability. 

• Revisiting a quote from Wil Crowe Sunday:

"We’re a good f—ing team, and we believe it. We’ll play hard all the way through. We don’t give up."

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 10-day injured list: OF Ben Gamel (hamstring), RHP Heath Hembree (calf), OF Jake Marisnick (thumb), 1B Yoshi Tsutsugo (lumbar muscle strain), Daniel Vogelbach (hamstring)

• 60-day injured list: OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery), Kevin Newman (groin), Roberto Pérez (hamstring, out for season)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Cal Mitchell, DH
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Josh VanMeter, 1B
5. Jack Suwinski, RF
6. Rodolfo Castro, SS
7. Tucupita Marcano, LF
8. Diego Castillo, 2B
9. Michael Perez, C

And for Dave Roberts' Dodgers:

1. Mookie Betts, RF
2. Freddie Freeman, 1B
3. Trea Turner, SS
4. Will Smith, C
5. Edwin Rios,DH
6. Justin Turner, 3B
7. Cody Bellinger, CF
8. Kevin Pillar, LF
9. Hanser Alberto, 2B

THE SCHEDULE

One more 10:10 p.m. start this roadtrip. Mitch Keller (1-5, 6.05) will be used as a starter again, this time against Julio Urias (3-4, 2.49). I've got one more late night with yinz.

THE CONTENT

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