Bednar blasted, broken in ninth
All-Star gets booed after blowing save
Before David Bednar could even field his first question, Rowdy Tellez was there to interject.
Like the 10,058 fans in attendance Tuesday afternoon at PNC Park, the Pirates first baseman watched his teammate struggle on the mound, blowing his third save opportunity of the young season, which, in the end, led to a 5-3 loss to the Detroit
Tigers.
He listened as the crowd booed the fanfavorite closer as he exited the game. And when it came time to address the elephant in the room, Tellez was ready to show his teammate that despite his poor start to the year, the entire team was still in his corner.
“This is the pride of Pittsburgh,” Tellez said in addressing the boos. “To everybody: We don’t do that out here. We’re a good team. We’re winning for a reason. We’re gonna get our man back on track, but what happened today is, I think, unacceptable. We as a group in Pittsburgh gotta be better. He’s an All-Star for a reason, and we just have to be better. That being said, twotime All-Star.”
Tellez’s words perhaps softened the blow for what was undoubtedly the toughest loss so far for Derek Shelton’s club.
For the first eight innings, it seemed as though the Pirates were on track to yet another smooth victory. After being bailed out from a potential rough first inning thanks to a golden-effort double play by Ke’Bryan Hayes, veteran lefty Martin Perez found a groove, keeping the Tigers lineup neutralized until the top of the ninth.
Two solo home runs from Edward Olivares, along with an RBI single in the top of the third inning from Hayes, looked to be more than enough run support for Perez’s outing, which
included seven strikeouts and just one earned run on six hits and no walks in eight innings.
With just three outs remaining for a two-game sweep against Detroit and their fourth series victory in a row to start the season, Shelton called upon Bednar to finish the job.
That, however, also happened to be the game’s turning point.
Bednar failed to locate the zone, throwing just nine of his 21 pitches for strikes.
“I think the command issue is something we gotta get cleaned up,” Shelton said. “I mean, what we’ve seen over the past couple of years is he’s had elite command. Over the last three or four outings, that just hasn’t been there.”
Bednar’s disaster outing began with a five-pitch walk to Riley Greene. He followed by hitting Spencer Torkelson with a first-pitch curveball. Gio Urshela singled to center in the next at-bat to make it 32. But before the play was over, a wild throw from Michael A. Taylor to third base brought home the tying run.
After a groundout to first moved Urshela to third base, the Tigers took the lead thanks to a pinch-hit single from Kerry Carpenter. Things then went from bad to worse for Bednar, who hit Javier Baez in the back with another curveball and then surrendered a single to Jake Rogers, bringing home Detroit’s fifth run.
“Just no control in the zone right now,” Bednar said. “That’s my bread and butter. That’s what makes me good. Just need to get back to throwing strikes in the zone, competing in the zone. When I do that, good things happen.”
Tigers reliever Shelby Miller was the game’s winning pitcher, having thrown a scoreless eighth inning. Jason Foley earned the save, his third of the year.
On the mound
For the sixth straight game, the Pirates received a quality start. Similar to Mitch Keller on Monday evening, Perez adjusted his pitch arsenal early, choosing to lean less on his cutter — his most thrown pitch entering Tuesday — and relying more upon his sinker.
“My sinker was really late today,” Perez said. “They weren’t doing anything to that pitch, so that’s why I was throwing more sinkers and breaking balls. Trying to mix a little bit more in. If I had to throw a cutter, I was just waiting for the time to throw that pitch. I think everything was good today. The way that we attacked the hitters was really good. I think that was a key today.”
After allowing three hits and an earned run to the first four batters of the game, Perez locked in and executed, retiring the next eight Tigers hitters. Only one Detroit baserunner reached second base for the remainder of his outing.
“I mean, when his command’s on, he throws the ball to very small sections of the plate,” Shelton said. “And when he does that, it’s really hard to hit.”
Perez’s seven strikeouts tied his season high in 2023, a mark he reached twice last year while with the Texas Rangers. His eight innings of work marked his longest outing since May 20, 2022.
“I’m here to go out there every five days and go nine innings,” Perez said. “That’s why they brought me here to pitch. On my day, that’s my goal. They had a different plan, and you have to respect their decisions. I was fine with that decision.”
At the plate
Both of Olivares’ home runs were no-doubters, flying in a hurry over PNC Park’s left-field wall.
The first shot measured 395 feet with an exit velocity of 108.6 mph, while the second went 407 feet with a 105 mph exit. Olivares’ multi-homer game marked the third of his career and the first as a Pirate.
“It is special, for sure,” Olivares said. “Any time I get a chance to go out there and perform, I’m just gonna try and do my best, and today was one of those days.”
Hayes was the other Pirate to have a multi-hit game, smacking a pair of singles.
They said it
Following Tellez’s words, Bednar expressed his gratitude to know he has his teammates’ support.
“It’s huge,” Bednar said. “Obviously, there’s peaks and valleys through every season. We’re gonna get over this. It’s definitely tough. Seeing these guys have my back, it’s huge.”