David Bednar bounces back to earn save as Pirates capitalize on Phillies errors for win

The Liberty Bell on their City Connect uniforms wasn’t the only thing with a crack in it for the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night, as their defense dealt with a night full of self-inflicted damage.

David Bednar proved there’s no cracks in his confidence.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ All-Star closer rebounded from a disastrous outing by pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save to snap a two-game losing streak with a 5-2 win at Citizens Bank Park.

“I was definitely itching to get back out there, especially after cleaning up things in my delivery I needed to fix,” Bednar said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “I was pumped to get back out there and close it out.”

It was Bednar’s first appearance since blowing a save by allowing four runs on three hits, two hit batsmen and one walk in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers at PNC Park. It was his third blown save of the season, after converting 92.9% last year.

Bednar struck out Nick Castellanos on three 97 mph fastballs, got Bryson Stott to fly out to left and Whit Merrifield to pop up to center to earn the save.

“This guy’s an elite closer, and we’ve seen that over the last couple years but it was nice to get him back out there,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We saw that right off the bat. He came out and threw three strikes right away, commanded the fastball. That had been the thing that had kind of plagued him over a couple appearances.”

It was also an emotional night for Pirates lefty Bailey Falter, making his first return to Philadelphia since being traded to the Pirates for Rodolfo Castro last August. Falter produced a second straight strong start by holding the Phillies to one run on four hits with three strikeouts while throwing 47 of 71 pitches for strikes in five innings.

That ended one streak and extended another. Falter (1-0) fell one inning short of a quality start, ending a string of seven consecutive by Pirates starters. But he didn’t allow a walk, continuing a streak by Pirates starting pitchers to 22 1/3 innings. That’s the longest since 2001, when Pirates starters went 30 1/3 consecutive innings without issuing a walk.

“It felt awesome. The game was very personal to me, so I tried to do whatever it takes to not let those guys score,” Falter said. “I know that they’ve got a great lineup over there, and I know that they know me very well so it was a little chess match with them. It was fun.”

The Pirates took advantage of Phillies mistakes, starting with two outs in the second inning when Michael A. Taylor hit a soft comebacker to Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez. The left-hander bobbled the ball off his glove three times, then dropped and fumbled it again for an error.

Sanchez continued to self-destruct. He threw a wild pitch, allowing Andrew McCutchen and Taylor to advance into scoring position and walked Jared Triolo to load the bases before Henry Davis drew a walk to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

The Phillies endured another bad break in the fourth. Taylor singled to center, raced to third on Triolo’s bloop to the right-center gap and scored when Connor Joe hit a bouncer to short that saw Trea Turner slip on the edge of the grass.

Where Falter didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning in his previous start Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles, he gave up singles to two of the first three batters in the first inning against the Phillies. But he got Turner to ground into a double play and JT Realmuto to ground into a forceout to prevent any damage.

The Phillies didn’t get another hit off Falter until Brandon Marsh doubled to the left-center gap in the fifth. Marsh advanced to third on a groundout by Castellanos, then scored when Stott hit a short chopper that Falter fielded but threw wide of first base to cut it to 2-1.

That stopped Falter’s scoreless streak at a career-best 10 2/3 innings. Lefty Jose Hernandez relieved him in the sixth, but after Bryce Harper hit a two-out double to the left-field corner off Hernandez, Luis Ortiz got Realmuto to fly out.

Once again, the Pirates capitalized on Phillies follies in the seventh. With Bryan Reynolds on first and Davis on third, Yunior Marte threw a 98 mph sinker for a called third strike against Ke’Bryan Hayes. But there was a cross-up, and the pitch hit Realmuto on the left wrist, allowing Davis to score to stretch the Pirates’ lead to 3-1. Marte drew a pair of pitch-clock violations, including one with a full count against McCutchen to load the bases, but got Oneil Cruz swinging at a belt-high sinker to strand three runners.

The Pirates added two more runs in the eighth. After Triolo reached on another infield single, Davis brought him in with a double to left off Ricardo Pinto to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead. Reynolds singled to center to drive in Davis for a four-run cushion.

“We continued to add on,” Shelton said. “We scored in some strange ways today. We didn’t hit the ball hard and scored. We scored on the passed ball. But we continued to add on. Bryan’s hit there to answer back was really important to us. With the exception of one inning, we’re continuing to make starters work.”

After Kyle Schwarber drew a walk and Turner singled in the eighth, the Pirates turned to Aroldis Chapman. Harper hit a low liner to right field, but Reynolds made a diving catch to rob him of a hit and save a run. Chapman walked Realmuto on four pitches to load the bases, then walked Alec Bohm as Schwarber scored to cut it to 5-2.

But with the go-ahead run at the plate, Chapman recovered. He followed a 101 mph four-seam outside fastball with an 88.8 mph slider over the middle to get Marsh looking at a called third strike and protect the Pirates’ lead and set the stage for Bednar’s triumphant return.

“It felt good. Anytime I’m in there with the lead, I want to shut the door,” Bednar said. “The guys battled all game. It was a great team win, and I just wanted to put an exclamation point on it.”