PITTSBURGH -- Rockies closer Daniel Bard believes the less it's about him, the better.
Having prevailed in just one of the previous 11 road games and four of the previous 16 overall, the Rockies found themselves in a low-scoring tussle with the even more win-starved Pirates. Manager Bud Black rang the bullpen before the ninth, and told Bard if the game went 10, Tuesday night's game was still his.
Bard made it his.
With runners at first and third and one out, Bard exploded the bat of debuting phenom Cal Mitchell, and shortstop José Iglesias threw home to prevent the winning run. Bard, after pumping his fist, didn't let the Pirates come close again in the Rockies' 2-1 victory at PNC Park.
"Personally, I've found it's always easier when I'm focused on the team accomplishments and team success, and tonight's a really good example," said Bard, who's pitching solidly with 23 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings, and 10 conversions in 12 save chances. "I knew how bad we needed this win to break the skid. For me, that's the most fun baseball -- when you're doing this for the 25 guys around me to change the mood in that clubhouse."
Moods in clubhouses are easy to gauge. Go through a stretch like the Rockies have and it's not a laugh riot. And the important temperature -- as in whether the team is capable of heating up, like during the team's strong start to the season -- can't be detected by staring at guys in the clubhouse. But it's a lot easier to hold confidence when a team wins a game like Tuesday's, during which so much good happened.
For example:
• Kyle Freeland, sick all day but never wavering from taking the ball, held the Pirates hitless for four innings before yielding one run on two hits in the fifth.
• The offense for the third straight game didn’t manage an earned run. But Connor Joe, a 2014 Pirates first-round pick, delivered in the 10th.
• Bard escaped a leadoff walk and Josh VanMeter's single to open the 9th, following Jhoulys Chacín, Lucas Gilbreath and Alex Colomé to complete 5 2/3 scoreless innings from the bullpen.
"I mean, just a lot of gutsy performances," Bard said.
Tuesday rewarded Black's decision late in Spring Training to go with Bard as closer. Bard forced the Mitchell grounder with the Rockies using five men in a drawn-in infield.
With the designated runner at second in the 10th, Bard delivered key strikeouts of Ke'Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds to eliminate the possibility of the runner advancing.
"He's got the ability to weave his way out of an inning if there's a little trouble, which he did tonight," Black said. "He's got good stuff. He's having a good year, throwing the ball really well. So we have a lot of trust in Daniel."
Bard, who turns 37 on June 25, rewards that trust with calm and quality -- traits he insists run through the Rockies' roster.
"We have a lot of confidence, and we know that there's going to be a tough stretch, maybe two during the season, and we're just in one right now," Bard said. "We've thrown the ball really well. We had a couple of games on that [3-6] homestand where we scored a bunch of runs we didn't pitch well, so we weren't lining up our good pitching days [with our] good hitting days. If we can start lining those up a little more, the wins will start coming back.
"There are too many good players, too many experienced players to not get back to where we were a couple of weeks ago."