A bounced pitch, a beautiful slide, and it's 10 games under
As soon as Fernando Tatis Jr. banged a leadoff double in the ninth inning tonight at PNC Park, David Bednar knew what he had to do.
"Time to bear down and make some good pitches," he recalled thinking.
However, even after retiring Luis Arraez with a grounder to Ke'Bryan Hayes and before he'd have a chance to retire Xander Bogaerts, Bednar was still beaten by Tatis, who'd steal third, then sprint home on a curveball that bounced up off Joey Bart's chest protector:
"I was able to get two outs. Then he gets on third base and the ball got away just a little bit," Bednar said after the Pirates' 2-1 loss to the Padres. "He had a good jump. He’s an unbelievable player. He had a great read on the ball. Just frustrating."
“As a baserunner, you choose your pick and tells,” Tatis told reporters in the visiting clubhouse. “I knew he has a big curveball and also a sharp split, so I had that in the back of my mind and I was just waiting for my opportunity. Small details, at the end of the game, it really matters."
Tatis returned to San Diego's lineup today after exiting the game yesterday with a forearm contusion when hit by a Mitch Keller pitch.
“When I got hit yesterday, I thought I was probably out for the season,” he said. “You see a ball just go into your forearm, it ain't fun. But shoutout to the training staff, doing a great job keeping me on the field and finding a way to not make excuses and just execute.”
“All by himself,” Manny Machado said of his teammate's trip around the bases. “He’s impressive, man."
"You saw a superstar make a couple of superstar plays," Derek Shelton said. "He got a really good read and stole third, and scored on a ball that went about 10 feet away. I think you saw all of Fernando Tatis’ athleticism right there."
After a bottom half that ended like this ...
... the Pirates were 10 games under .500 at 12-22, losers of three in a row, seven of nine.
That, in Bednar's words, has to be "frustrating," especially when Bailey Falter did everything he could in delivering seven innings of two-hit ball, allowing one earned run -- a seventh-inning Machado home run that tied the score at 1-1 -- and struck out six.
That's been one of the Pirates' many shortcomings this year: Their failure to put a complete game together. A starting pitcher will deliver a brilliant performance and the offense won't show up. On other nights, the defense will flounder. Or the Pirates will make enough mistakes to play themselves out of a game.
Tonight, yet again, it was the offense. The Pirates had six hits, all singles, and couldn't even get anything going with eight walks. Ten runners were stranded, including the bases being left loaded in the fifth on an strikeout by Alexander Canario, who's now batting .132.
"We have to be more consistent in total," Shelton said. "I mean, we threw the ball really well today. There were times we had really good at-bats and we didn't get a big hit. So, I think it comes back to that consistency point.”
Sound familiar?
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
1:26 am - 05.04.2025NORTH SHOREA bounced pitch, a beautiful slide, and it's 10 games under
As soon as Fernando Tatis Jr. banged a leadoff double in the ninth inning tonight at PNC Park, David Bednar knew what he had to do.
"Time to bear down and make some good pitches," he recalled thinking.
However, even after retiring Luis Arraez with a grounder to Ke'Bryan Hayes and before he'd have a chance to retire Xander Bogaerts, Bednar was still beaten by Tatis, who'd steal third, then sprint home on a curveball that bounced up off Joey Bart's chest protector:
"I was able to get two outs. Then he gets on third base and the ball got away just a little bit," Bednar said after the Pirates' 2-1 loss to the Padres. "He had a good jump. He’s an unbelievable player. He had a great read on the ball. Just frustrating."
“As a baserunner, you choose your pick and tells,” Tatis told reporters in the visiting clubhouse. “I knew he has a big curveball and also a sharp split, so I had that in the back of my mind and I was just waiting for my opportunity. Small details, at the end of the game, it really matters."
Tatis returned to San Diego's lineup today after exiting the game yesterday with a forearm contusion when hit by a Mitch Keller pitch.
“When I got hit yesterday, I thought I was probably out for the season,” he said. “You see a ball just go into your forearm, it ain't fun. But shoutout to the training staff, doing a great job keeping me on the field and finding a way to not make excuses and just execute.”
“All by himself,” Manny Machado said of his teammate's trip around the bases. “He’s impressive, man."
"You saw a superstar make a couple of superstar plays," Derek Shelton said. "He got a really good read and stole third, and scored on a ball that went about 10 feet away. I think you saw all of Fernando Tatis’ athleticism right there."
After a bottom half that ended like this ...
... the Pirates were 10 games under .500 at 12-22, losers of three in a row, seven of nine.
That, in Bednar's words, has to be "frustrating," especially when Bailey Falter did everything he could in delivering seven innings of two-hit ball, allowing one earned run -- a seventh-inning Machado home run that tied the score at 1-1 -- and struck out six.
That's been one of the Pirates' many shortcomings this year: Their failure to put a complete game together. A starting pitcher will deliver a brilliant performance and the offense won't show up. On other nights, the defense will flounder. Or the Pirates will make enough mistakes to play themselves out of a game.
Tonight, yet again, it was the offense. The Pirates had six hits, all singles, and couldn't even get anything going with eight walks. Ten runners were stranded, including the bases being left loaded in the fifth on an strikeout by Alexander Canario, who's now batting .132.
"We have to be more consistent in total," Shelton said. "I mean, we threw the ball really well today. There were times we had really good at-bats and we didn't get a big hit. So, I think it comes back to that consistency point.”
Sound familiar?
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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