David Bednar joins the company of just five other pitchers in Pirates history, after he earned his 100th save with the team in a 2-0 win over the Diamondbacks.
Oneil Cruz blasted a 2 run home run in the bottom of the 2nd inning and that was all the runs the Pirates needed. Andrew Heaney pitched 5 scoreless innings and the Pirates bullpen continued the shutout.
Bednar pitched a clean 1-2-3 top of the 9th inning, with two strikeouts, to earn his 16th save of the season and number 100 with the Pirates.
"Here in Pittsburgh and just the way he's done it, especially after last year. Coming back this year, bouncing back and regaining his stuff, his confidence. It's awesome," said manager Don Kelly after the game.
Kelly talked about how special it was for the hometown player to earn the achievement in front of the fans.
"It was exciting, you could feel the energy tonight. The crowd was unbelievable, they were into the game the whole time. Really for "Beddy" (Bednar), really just happy for him to have that moment here in Pittsburgh to get his 100th."
It has been an incredible run for Bednar after returning to the club April 19th after being optioned to AAA April 1st. Since then, he has allowed just 7 earned runs in 33 appearances. Bednar has not allowed an earned run in 23 straight appearances. He brought his ERA down from a 13.50 April 19th to a 2.19 currently.
"What he has been able to accomplish this year, with struggling at the beginning going down to AAA, regaining his form and coming back and doing what he's been able to do, yeah it's amazing," said Kelly.
He joins Roy Face (188), Kent Tekulve (158), Mike Williams (140), Dave Giusti (133) and Mark Melancon (130) as the only pitchers to reach 100 saves with the Pirates.