The Pittsburgh Pirates' bullpen has shown itself to be ready for the stretch run with its performance the past two days.
Pirates relievers have shut down the New York Mets in two extra-inning wins. They held the Mets to one run in 4 2/3 innings of relief Friday, and no runs and three hits in 7 2/3 scoreless innings Saturday night.
Pirates relievers have won 15 straight decisions. A Pittsburgh reliever has not taken a loss since Rob Scahill lost to the Reds on June 25. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that this is the longest streak by any major league bullpen since 1909, when the eventual World Series champion Pirates relievers had 22 straight winning decisions.
Winning decisions are not necessarily the deciding mark of a good bullpen (though they certainly don’t hurt). But lots of zeroes are. Pirates relievers posted a 4.54 ERA in July but have been far better in August, with eight earned runs allowed in 48 innings (1.50 ERA). They entered Saturday with the fifth-lowest bullpen ERA in the major leagues (2.75). The only National League team ahead of them is the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Pirates made moves at the trade deadline to bolster their relief corps, and the payoff has been solid. Joakim Soria has added to the Pirates’ win probability in six of his eight appearances (in one of the two he didn’t, the run he allowed was unearned).
And Saturday, the Pirates got a great return in their investment in Joe Blanton, who struck out six in three scoreless innings. Blanton has allowed one earned run in nine innings since being purchased from the Royals. The luxury of having Blanton is that he’s someone who can pitch effectively in long relief.
Blanton has pitched three innings of relief twice in the last eight days and been the winning pitcher in each instance.
The thing that has helped the Pirates' bullpen the past two days has been the defense behind it, with the biggest assist being a diving stop by Aramis Ramirez as part of a shifted infield in the 11th inning.
The Pirates have converted 81 percent of balls hit against relievers in this series into outs, compared to 68 percent by the Mets' defense for its relievers.