SAN FRANCISCO -- Colin Holderman could breathe a little easier after getting his fourth and final out at Oracle Park Tuesday night. Those final three outs were in good hands.
"My job's just trying to get it to him, because we know it's lights out when he gets into the game," Holderman was telling me about the team's All-Star closer, David Bednar.
Bednar lived up to his set-up man's billing, striking out Patrick Bailey and Brett Wisely with near identical fastballs up in the zone to start the bottom of the ninth:
(No, seriously. Check out the counts of those at-bats. They were that identical, not a replay.)
He then got LaMonte Wade Jr. to fly out to center to complete his 10th save of the season in the Pirates' 2-1 win over the Giants. If that save number seems a little low, it's because it had been a month and a day since he last entered a game in a save opportunity.
Call it a casualty of the Pirates' month of May where they went from 20-8 to below .500 after their loss Monday. Bednar was the team's All-Star last year and is making a terrific case to repeat, posting a 1.29 ERA and 28 strikeouts over his 21 innings. But as the Pirates stumbled through a 7-18 month of May, he had been used to complete wins in non-save situations or, more frequently, go out to throw an inning after a couple days off to stay loose.
It definitely was a change of pace from April, when it was common for him to be tasked with saving three or four games a week. But when that opportunity finally arose again Tuesday, Bednar was ready.
"I think it just speaks to the way that he handles himself and the preparation he does," Derek Shelton said. "Credit to him, credit to Mecc [bullpen coach Justin Meccage] for making sure that he stays on task."
It was definitely a game where the Pirates were going to have to lean on the bullpen. Johan Oviedo was wild and got hit pitch count up early, so Shelton pulled him in favor of Dauri Moreta after the starter lasted just 4 1/3 innings. Moreta, Jose Hernandez and Holderman each recorded four outs to bridge the gap to Bednar, who took care of things with a 1-2-3 ninth.
The Pirates haven't had many leads late this month, so it was the bullpen's time to shine, even if they had to record the majority of the outs.
"Once the starter is out, it’s our game now and everybody takes pride in that," Bednar said. "The game’s in our hands. I think everybody you hand the ball to is going to give us a really good chance of winning because we have a lot of guys down there who throw nasty stuff and go out there and compete."
While the Pirates' bullpen is not as high flying as it was at the start of the year, it has still been a solid unit overall. Their ERA as a unit is close to league average (3.89), but going by win probability added -- or the calculation to see if your team is in a better position to win the game based on your results -- they are the fourth-best unit in the league (2.13, according to FanGraphs). Any hope of the Pirates bouncing back in June is going to be very reliant on if the bullpen can produce.
If that happens, it's going to have to be Bednar leading the way. A month of low-leverage spots has hurt his rankings in the save and WPA leaderboards, but going by just straight WAR, he's been the third-most valuable reliever in the game, according to FanGraphs (0.9).
Armed with that upper-90s fastball and his plus offspeed offerings, a bounce back month from the Pirates could put him back to the top of those leaderboards.
"I think that’s also the beauty of it is that we can also rattle off quite a few in a row here," Bednar said. "I’m just staying locked in every single day no matter what. I’m always ready to pitch and ready for that situation. Whenever the phone rings, I’m dialed in and ready to go down there."
And a win and a save like Tuesday could be just what the Pirates need to rattle off a much-needed winning streak.
"We needed a close ball game, a close W to get us rolling," Holderman said. "I think that's what we're going to have coming in June."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 15-day injured list: RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
• 60-day injured list: 1B Ji-Man Choi (Achilles), RHP Wil Crowe (shoulder), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Andrew McCutchen, RF
2. Tucupita Marcano, SS
3. Connor Joe, 1B
4. Jack Suwinski, LF
5. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
6. Ji Hwan Bae, CF
7. Rodolfo Castro, 2B
8. Jason Delay, C
9. Josh Palacios, DH
And for Gabe Kapler's Giants:
1. LaMonte Wade Jr., 1B
2. Carl Yastrzemski, CF
3. J.D. Davis, 3B
4. Michael Conforto, RF
5. Mitch Haniger, LF
6. Blake Sabol, DH
7. Casey Schmitt, 2B
8. Patrick Bailey, C
9. Brandon Crawford, SS
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates will go for a series win Wednesday. Mitch Keller (6-1, 3.01) will look to bounce back against lefty Alex Wood (1-0, 3.51). First pitch is set for 3:45 p.m. Eastern. I'll be there for it.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
Visit our team feed for all the latest around the clock and our team page for everything else.
