The ninth inning of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 4-3 victory against the Miami Marlins on Friday night lasted 18 pitches and barely seven minutes.

Long enough for David Bednar to record his first save of the season and, perhaps, inject the two-time All-Star closer with the swagger and confidence he’ll need to again anchor the Pirates’ bullpen.

For two seasons (2022 and 2023), Bednar was one of the top relief pitchers in the game. He recorded back-to-back ERAs of 2.61 and 2.00 and WHIPs of 1.123 and 1.099. He averaged 1.25 strikeouts per inning and saved 58 of the Pirates’ 138 victories in those seasons (42%).

Something went wrong last year, however, and he slumped to a 5.77 ERA, 1.422 WHIP and only 23 saves after leading the National League with 39 the previous season.

Opening Day 2025 was no better Thursday. After allowing the Marlins to hit two balls to the outfield clocked at 99.4 and 105.5 mph (one of which should have been caught for an out), he shouldered the loss in Miami’s 5-4 victory.

To his credit, manager Derek Shelton did not give up on Bednar and brought him in to protect a three-run lead in the ninth inning Friday. A walk to Matt Mervis and Otto Lopez’s home run trimmed the lead to 4-3 and created tense moments. But two groundball outs to shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and a strikeout that consisted of three swinging strikes by Derek Hill ended the game. Add it all up and Bednar had reason to flash a smile on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show.

“It was definitely big to get the first one out of the way, that first win,” he said.

After the walk, Bart told Bednar, “Let’s get right after these guys and just trust the stuff.”

Lopez’s home run followed, but Bednar stayed the course.

“Strapped it in, locked it in and got the job done,” he said.

Shelton didn’t like the start to the inning. “Unacceptable,” Bednar said.

But both men will take the result.

“We don’t want a walk to start out an inning and then fastball up (for the home run),” Shelton said. “To be able to execute and be able to use all three of his pitches, which (Thursday) he didn’t do, was really effective.”

For the final out, Bednar started by getting Hill to swing through 96 and 97 mph fastballs before nailing him with a curveball.

“The fastball, it’s something that’s made him elite,” Shelton said, “and we have to make sure it gets to the right spot.”

Meanwhile, Bednar hopes to regain the trust of his manager.

“That’s all I want to do is let them have confidence in me and keep the ball rolling,” he said.

Friday was a good night for two other relief pitchers. Caleb Ferguson and Ryan Borucki threw scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. Both pitched well Thursday, too.

Base thievery

The Pirates (1-1) have recorded eight stolen bases through their first two games, tied with the 1989 New York Yankees, 1987 St. Louis Cardinals and 1984 Cleveland Indians for fourth-most all-time since 1920.

Oneil Cruz and Tommy Pham have stolen a base in each of the first two games. They are the second pair of Pirates to do so since at least 1900. The other pair was Lee Lacy and Dave Parker in 1983, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Pham became the third Pirates player since at least 1900 to steal at least one base in each of his first two games with the team, joining Kirk Gibson in 1992 and Cozy J. Dolan in 1913.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)