Pittsburgh Pirates Game Recap: Liriano Surrenders Seven Runs In Loss To Minnesota Twins
By Larry Snyder
Minnesota rolled up six runs in the second inning Tuesday as the Twins downed the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-5 at PNC Park. The Bucs are 1-3 in interleague play this season.
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With the loss, the Jolly Roger crew saw their record sink to 18-21. Clint Hurdle‘s squad is 5-5 in their last 10 contests. They are eight games behind the first-place St. Louis Cardinals (26-13) in the National League Central Division.
Francisco Liriano was sent to the showers early as he surrendered seven earned runs on five hits in two innings of work. He struck out just two batters, walked two, and gave up two home runs. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound lefthander hurled 28 of his 55 pitches for strikes.
Before the six run explosion in the second, Minnesota’s Brian Dozier got it started in the opening frame as he claimed his seventh home run on a line drive to center.
The Twins’ barrage of runs came in the second when Joe Maure drove in three on a single to left that Starling Marte was slow to retrieve, and Trevor Plouffe brought two more across the plate with a home run to left-center.
The only run allowed by the Bucs bullpen came off righthander Radhames Liz in the third when Shane Robinson grounded into a double play that drove in Kurt Suzuki from third base. At the end of three, the scoreboard read 8-1 in favor of Minnesota.
The Pirates tried to claw their way back starting in the home half of the second on Jose Tabata‘s ground ball single to second that scored Jung Ho Kang. Tabata had just been called up Tuesday from Triple-A Indianapolis.
With one out in the fourth, Pedro Alvarez brought the crowd to their feet when he blasted his seventh home run to right that cleared the stadium and went into the Allegheny River.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Kang, who went 3-for-5, added a run in the fifth when he grounded out to short that drove in Neil Walker. It was Walker’s turn in the sixth when he hit his 12th double of the season on a line drive to right that scored Josh Harrison.
Pittsburgh’s final run came in the seventh when Harrison singled to right off Minnesota reliever Aaron Thompson to bring home Marte.
Minnesota’s Ricky Nolasco permitted four runs, three of them earned, over five 2/3 innings. He struck out eight, walked one, and gave up one home run. The 6-foot-2, 235-pound righthander delivered 62 of his 93 pitches for strikes as he improved his record to 4-1.
Glen Perkins closed the door in the ninth for the Twins by allowing only one hit and striking out two in picking up his 14th save. The 6-foot, 215-pound lefthander fired 11 of his 14 pitches for strikes.
For the Pirates, in addition to Kang contributing to the offense, Harrison went 3-for4 at the plate, scoring one run, and driving in one. J-Hay extended his hitting steak to seven games. Walker also supplied one RBI and scored a run. The second baseman was 2-for-5 on the night.
Up Next: Pittsburgh and Minnesota wrap up their two-game set Wednesday at PNC Park. The first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. The Twins will go with righthander Mike Pelfrey (3-1, 3.23 ERA/1.38 WHIP), while the Pirates turn to lefthander Jeff Locke (2-2, 5.40 ERA/1.45 WHIP). The contest will be on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.
From The Clipboard: The game went 2:53 and there were 22,357 in attendance at PNC Park…The Pirates are hosting the Twins in a series for just the third time since PNC Park opened for business in 2001…Pittsburgh is 6-15 when the opposition scores first…Following a day off on Thursday, the homestand will continue this weekend with three games against the New York Mets before concluding with a trio of contests against the Miami Marlins starting Monday night.
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