Powered by Bae's walk-off homer, Pirates give reminder that 'we're getting better'

David Bednar sat at his locker by himself, unshowered, minutes after blowing a save.

He was still holding his head high, though. Undoubtedly because of this:

That three-run, walk-off shot by Ji Hwan Bae was the deciding blow in a 7-4 win over the Astros Tuesday night at PNC Park, picking up Bednar after a tough-luck blown save.

“They grind all game, and to not finish it out for the boys is tough," Bednar told me. "But it was huge for Bae to pick me up and pick the boys up."

It's one game, one on April 11, even. But after a back-and forth contest against the defending champs, it can't help but be pointed out that last year's club would have probably found a way to lose this game. This year's team found a way to win it.

And when I say they'd find a way to lose, they probably would have found five or six different ways to lose, because there were plenty of pitfalls to navigate in this one:

• Bednar allowing a two-run to Chas McCormick in the ninth to blow the save.

• That blown save being due in large part to shortstop Rodolfo Castro short-hopping a throw to Carlos Santana, giving the Astros a free base runner on the error.

• The rookie Bae starting the game 0-for-4 and then having it all come down to him in the ninth.

• Even Mitch Keller started shaky, allowing a pair of homers in the first two innings to Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker.

Despite all that, Bae was the one jumping onto home plate through the wave of bubble gum that was tossed in the air.

"It's a combination of the energy of the younger guys and the experience from the older guys," Bae said via interpreter Daniel Park.

And I would be remiss to omit that this wasn't against any club. That's the defending champion. Christian Javier got the start. Ryan Pressley, one of the best relievers in the game, was the one on the mound in the ninth.

Yet they still won.

"We’re a resilient bunch," Keller said. "We had a couple miscues that led them to tie the game which I mean. We just showed that we got everyone’s back."

“We’re getting better," Derek Shelton said. "The fact that we’re resilient and keep playing and we keep grinding through things. We faced a really good pitcher today and we faced the back end of a really good bullpen, and our guys continued to go and we took advantage of the opportunities that they gave us.”

Opportunities like Bae knowing he should cut down on his leg kick after he got to two strikes in the ninth. Or Ke'Bryan Hayes stealing third after catching Javier napping, only to be plated later in the at-bat on a Canaan Smith-Njigba sacrifice fly. Little moments that a young team may let slip through, especially when in a back-and-forth fight with one of the best teams in the game.

"There’s no quit [in us] throughout the game," Bednar said. "Even when we get hit, we hit right back. I think that speaks to us.”

It's early in the year. A 7-4 start is solid, and winning the rubber match Wednesday would be three straight series wins over quality opponents. It's still too early to make any definitive, sweeping generalizations about this team.

But the Pirate teams of the last couple years weren't going to win like that.

"It just shows that we can compete with the best of 'em," Keller said. "I think we’ve already shown that. We got a really good baseball team. The key going forward is consistency, if we can be consistent we can hang with the best of 'em."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• The Korean call on Bae's home run is just fantastic:

That bat flip was pretty nifty too.

"I was mad because I was 0-for-4," Bae said. "It just kind of came."

• As Keller and Jason Delay talked after those early inning home runs, the two decided to double down on the game plan, which included a lot of sweepers to a right-handed heavy lineup.

"Honestly didn’t feel too good about the sweeper today," Keller said, "but just being stubborn with it and sticking with it, I knew it was going to be a good pitch for us."

The results spoke for themselves, as the Astros went 2-for-10 against the sweeper with just a pair of singles. For a pitch that he didn't feel like he had most of the night, that certainly plays.

"He didn’t have his best stuff, which was really encouraging that he gave up only the two solo homers to two pretty good hitters and was able to minimize damage the rest of the time," Shelton said. "I think it says a ton for his maturation.”

• Suwinski got off the schneid, even. After driving a couple long flyouts Sunday, he pulled one over the Clemente wall in right.

He did some extra velo work in the cage to help make that one possible as he tries to break out of this early-season slump.

“We’ve seen Jack go through when he gets in-between [with his timing]," Shelton said. "He can’t get in-between. He got in-between in one at bat tonight, then the next pitch he unleashed it and we almost hit a ball out oppo. Just trusting the fact that he has a really good swing and letting it go and not getting in-between speeds or in-between his swing.”

• Bae: "I want to honor Oneil [Cruz] today for our win."

• Speaking of Cruz, I did a notebook earlier in the day giving some injury updates and a look at the Pirates' waiver claim.

• Factoid of the game: Bae and Ji-Man Choi became the first South Korean born teammates to homer in the same MLB game.

"I feel very bad because I didn’t get the spotlight," Choi said. "He took it."

Choi waited for Park to finish before breaking into a belly laugh. Solid acting on both's part.

"I feel very happy for him, and I knew he was going to do it for us."

THE ESSENTIALS

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

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 7-day concussion list: C Austin Hedges

• 15-day injured list: RHP Robert Stephenson (elbow)

• 60-day injured list: RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Ji Hwan Bae, 2B
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Ji-Man Choi, DH
4. Carlos Santana, 1B
5. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
6. Canaan Smith-Njigba, RF
7. Rodolfo Castro, SS
8. Jack Suwinski, CF
9. Jason Delay, C

And for Dusty Baker's Astros:

1. Chas McCormick, LF
2. Alex Bregman, 3B
3. Yordan Alvarez, DH
4. Jose Abreu, 1B
5. Kyle Tucker, RF
6. Jeremy Peña, SS
7. Jake Meyers, CF
8. Mauricio Dubón, 2B
9. Martin Maldonado, C

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will try to take the series against the defending World Champs Wednesday afternoon. Rich Hill (0-1, 10.00) will try to right the ship against José Urquidy (0-0, 3.86). I'll be here for pregame duties before embarking to St. Louis, while Corey Crisan will cover the game.

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THE CONTENT

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