Bucs end first half on high note, as 'pen leads way in win
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PHOENIX -- David Bednar had seen a lot of the home team’s All-Star heroics this weekend in Arizona. He’s heading to Seattle, too, and he showed why.
The right-handed closer came on in the bottom of the ninth and held the Pirates’ slim lead by getting All-Star Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to pop out and promptly striking out the next two batters on six pitches, as the Bucs avoided the series sweep with a 4-2 win over the D-backs on Sunday.
“Felt good,” Bednar said. “The guys battled hard all game.”
It was a fitting end on a day that belonged to the Pittsburgh pitching staff.
Manager Derek Shelton went with a bullpen day and gave righty Carmen Mlodzinski his first MLB start. The relief corps was busy, with seven pitchers making appearances and none pitching more than 1 2/3 innings.
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Osvaldo Bido picked up his first career Major League win, and the seven arms combined to allow two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Twice, the Pirates faced situations with a runner at third and less than two outs, and they worked out of both jams.
“It’s impressive what they all did,” Bednar added. “It’s tough to get the whole group on the same page on those bullpen days sometimes, but it’s a testament to all the work we’ve done throughout the whole year.”
The offense erased an early one-run deficit when Ji Man Choi drove a 1-0 pitch to the deepest part of the ballpark in straightaway center for a two-run shot, his third of the season. Choi added a double from the No. 5 spot.
Choi got himself back in a groove after being reinstated Friday from the 60-day injured list for a left Achilles tendon strain. He had just one hit in his first eight at-bats of the series before finding his stroke Sunday.
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“It hasn’t been too difficult adjusting because I’ve had some time in Triple-A,” Choi said through an interpreter. “I feel like my balance is really good right now, so I’m gonna be resting during the All-Star break.”
If there’s such a thing as a must-win game in July for a team that’s below .500, Sunday felt like it.
Having lost two leads Saturday and squandering another Sunday, with the thought of carrying a losing streak into the All-Star break lingering, the Pirates snapped their four-game skid.
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It’s been an inconsistent first half for Pittsburgh to say the least. After closing April with a promising 20-9 mark, the club subsequently went on seven- and 10-game losing streaks, has gone 8-22 since June 6 and lost seven of eight entering Sunday’s series finale against the NL West leaders.
“We played a really good game against one of the better teams in baseball, and I’m proud of our group finishing this road trip going into the All-Star break,” Shelton said.
Bednar, also on the Team USA roster for the World Baseball Classic this spring, was named the National League injury replacement for Clayton Kershaw in this week’s All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. Joining him will be right-handed pitcher Mitch Keller.
On another promising note Sunday, shortly after the Pirates had finished off the D-backs, the Bucs drafted Paul Skenes, a right-hander from College World Series champion LSU, with the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft.