CINCINNATI -- When getting his chances to take the mound in the later innings this season, Colin Holderman's production has been quite noticeable. He's served as a reliable back-end piece to the Pirates' bullpen alongside the likes of Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar, despite running into a rare ineffective performance in Sunday's loss to the Rays at PNC Park.
Holderman surrendered two earned runs -- the first he's allowed since May 31 in Toronto -- on three hits and a walk in the eighth inning of the defeat in which Paul Skenes threw seven strong innings and the run support was almost non-existent. But don't expect Holderman, the owner of a 1.30 ERA (four earned runs in 27 2/3 innings) and 1.05 WHIP in 29 appearances this season, to go bothered by an occasional bump in the road.
"That's the name of the game. It's baseball and sometimes a ball's going to find holes. They put good swings on them and they landed," Holderman said Monday. "You've just got to take it for what it is. Everyone is going to have that outing or a couple of those during the year where stuff's going to fall. Came out of there only giving up two was a success in my eyes, so I'm just flushing it and starting fresh."
The Pirates will need Holderman to be at his usual best moving forward with Bednar now on the 15-day injured list with a strained left oblique muscle. While Derek Shelton said 'a committee approach' will be used to close games, Holderman and Chapman will seemingly serve as the most reliable options to fill that void and take on the duties associated with closing games out in the final innings.
"It definitely hurts the pen because he's a leader and he's so good at what he does. With him, you know the ninth inning is locked down," Holderman said of Bednar. "The good thing for us is we have a guy that's one of the best ever at that exact job with Chappy. It's a next-man up mentality and we'll do what we can to fill that spot until he's back."
