PITTSBURGH -- D-backs reliever T.J. McFarland still had the baseball and lineup card tucked away in his locker Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours after he recorded the first big league save of his career.
McFarland had made 189 appearances before pitching a scoreless 13th inning Friday night to earn that elusive first save.
Serving as the D-backs' long man out of the bullpen this year, McFarland was thinking about going multiple innings when he started warming up in the top of the 13th.
"I was warming up. I wasn't watching what was unfolding in the inning, and before we knew it, we had first and third with two outs and a chance to actually get ahead, but I didn't really want to think about it too much and psych myself out."
The D-backs managed to push across a run to take a 2-1 lead and with closer Brad Boxberger and setup men Yoshihisa Hirano and Archie Bradley already having pitched, McFarland was thrust into the closer's role.
"It was really quick," McFarland said of the time between when the D-backs took the lead and the end of the inning. "I had to run out there, so I didn't really have enough time to think about what was going on. But when I got that third out I was like, 'Hey, we won, that's great!' And then I thought, 'Wait, I think I might have just gotten my first save.'"