When the Pirates dealt David Bednar, the idea of Pittsburgh spending their limited funds on a new closer emerged. That narrative was further pushed after Dennis Santana stepped into the role and posted a 6.17 ERA in August. Although the initial performance indicated Pittsburgh might have to go back to the drawing board, things turned around in September, courtesy of Santana's bounce back and Justin Lawrence coming off the injured list.
That duo is exactly what the Pirates needed. Their productivity was outstanding, allowing just two earned runs combined in September. It wasn't an entirely small sample size, either, as both pitchers combined for nearly 20 innings.