Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting pitching keeps them in NL Central race

Sep 23, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Charlie Morton (50) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

On Monday night at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans experienced all the highs and lows of a playoff race.

From the moment Neil Walker’s first-inning homer landed in the left-field bleachers, the wheels were set in motion for the Bucs to clinch their first postseason berth since 1992. There were some bumps to encounter in the final two innings, as the Cubs tied the game in the eighth before Starling Marte’s bomb and an impromptu 9-8-3-2 putout at the plate combined to deliver Pittsburgh’s 90th victory of the season.

Twenty minutes after the dramatic final play, the Pirates were celebrating with champagne and light beer as the Nationals lost to the Cardinals, thus guaranteeing at least a wild-card spot for the Bucs. But even that moment had to be somewhat bittersweet, since St. Louis maintained its two-game lead in the National League Central with five games to go.

As recently as Monday afternoon, the Pirates were talking about the division title still being their goal, so they figure to be locked in again Tuesday night for the middle game of their series with the Cubs. They probably need to go 4-1 – if not 5-0 – to have a decent chance at setting up a playoff with the Cardinals and/or Reds for the Central crown.

The Pirates are 11-11 in September and just slightly over .500 since June, but there’s one huge aspect that gives them an opportunity to surge to the finish line: starting pitching. With the exception of Jeff Locke on Sunday, the Bucs starters have given them a legitimate opportunity to win every game over the past two weeks.

With a much-needed off-day coming Thursday, the Pirates can skip Locke’s turn and go with a four-man rotation this week. That means blossoming rookie Gerrit Cole, who will start Tuesday night in Chicago, will also be on track to take the mound in Sunday’s season finale in Cincinnati.

In between, the Bucs will have Francisco Liriano (Wednesday), A.J. Burnett (Friday) and Charlie Morton (Saturday) lined up. Although all three had hiccups earlier this month, each has delivered back-to-back quality starts and are throwing as well as they have this year.

As we saw Monday, starting pitching alone won’t be enough to carry the Pirates where they want to go. Morton threw seven scoreless frames at the Cubs, allowing just two singles and a double, but Mark Melancon surrendered his third lead in six days and the offense barely scratched out enough to survive a wacky finish.

Still, the fact remains you can’t expect to put together a winning streak without good starting pitching. The Pirates have that, which gives them a shot at making the Cardinals and Reds sweat before the 2013 regular season is in the books.