Bednar taking rehab ‘one day at a time,’ Borucki ready to return to Pittsburgh

ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) – Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar and reliever Ryan Borucki made their first rehab assignment appearances for the Altoona Curve on Tuesday. Both played an instrumental role on holding on to the Curve’s 4-0 win over the Bowie Baysox.

Borucki inherited a runner on third base when he came into the game in the fourth inning. One pitch in, he helped get the runner out at third due to a fielder’s choice.

Borucki, who has been out since April, returned in the fifth inning, where he struck out the final two batters he faced.

“I had to knock off (pitching more than an inning which is) hopefully that last checkmark on all my boxes I needed to check,” Borucki said. “Hopefully I’ll be back in (Pittsburgh) soon.”

He is healing from left triceps inflammation, which limited him to just four games with the Pirates this season. Physically, Borucki says he is ready to rejoin the Pirates after a “frustrating” injury.

“I thought it was going to be a one-week (or) two-week thing and it ended up being two-and-a-half-month thing,” Borucki said. “(My) body feels good (and) stuff feels good. The last four (outings), my delivery has felt good and my stuff has been coming out really nice.”

Bednar replaced Borucki in the sixth inning, where he pitched a clean frame with one strikeout.

“You just want to get back (to the MLB) as soon as you can,” Bednar said. “Today felt good. So, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

Bednar, who is recovering from a left oblique strain that he suffered in June, isn’t sure on what his recovery timeline will look like.

“I think (we’ll) just kind of take it one day at a time and kind of reevaluate tomorrow and see what and see where we go,” Bednar said.

Bednar and Borucki were joined on the mound by rising Pirates star prospect Bubba Chandler, who didn’t allow a hit and struck out two batters over two innings. Chandler was on an innings-limit due to keeping him fresh for the All-Star Futures Game , which is set for Sunday.

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Despite pitching shorter than normal, Chandler still blew away Bednar.

“His stuff is legit,” Bednar said. “It’s been cool to watch him grow through the Minor Leagues and I’m really excited that he gets to go to the Futures Game.”

All three aforementioned pitchers were fueled by Charles McAdoo’s RBI single in the third inning and Tsung Che Cheng’s three-run home run in the seventh to take the 4-0 win over Bowie.

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