Francisco Liriano Dominates As Pittsburgh Pirates Win Series Over Phillies
By Matt Gajtka
Sep 11, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano (47) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
“Takin’ Care of Business” was a hit for Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 1973, so it’s unlikely the Pittsburgh Pirates took any inspiration from the classic rock anthem before starting their ongoing 13-game stretch against losing teams.
Still, they’re playing as if they did, as they collected their sixth win in seven games with a 4-1 decision Thursday night at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.
Speaking of throwbacks, Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano racked up a season-high 12 strikeouts in holding the Phillies to four singles in eight dominant frames. The big left-hander, who was so strong late last season for the Bucs, hasn’t allowed a run in his past two outings and no more than two runs in 10 of 11 starts. His ERA has dropped from 4.72 at the all-star break to 3.53.
Liriano has collected a pair of wins during Pittsburgh’s current 6-1 run, which followed a four-game losing streak. The Pirates (77-69) swept the Cubs in Chicago last weekend to rebound from a discouraging 0-3 trip to St. Louis, and now they’ll host the Cubs after winning three of four in Philadelphia.
With their latest victory, the Pirates ensured they’d maintain a 1 1/2-game advantage over the Brewers for the National League’s second wild-card position. Remarkably, Pittsburgh has climbed to within 2 1/2 games of the NL Central-leading Cardinals, who dropped three of four in Cincinnati this week.
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The Pirates’ offense has produced 39 runs over the past seven games – an average of 5.6 per outing – but Thursday was a quieter night than usual with just four coming across. Nevertheless, the Bucs didn’t need much with Liriano on his game; they put the game in their back pocket with a mid-game outburst against old friend A.J. Burnett.
With the Pirates up 1-0 on Ike Davis‘ second-inning RBI single, Travis Snider singled and Andrew McCutchen doubled to lead off the sixth. Next up, Neil Walker rifled a long double to center that brought only Snider home – McCutchen misread the ball’s trajectory and decided to tag up – but Russell Martin lofted a sacrifice fly to make up for the miscue and raise the margin to 3-0.
With Walker moving up to third on the play, the Phillies decided to bring their infield in. Gregory Polanco made them pay by sending a high chopper that jumped over the head of second baseman Cesar Hernandez for an RBI single.
Previous to that outburst, the Pirates had struggled to square up Burnett, who allowed just two singles over the first five innings. He whiffed seven against three walks and departed after six.
Liriano trucked through eight on 106 pitches before Jared Hughes took over in the ninth. Unfortunately, Hughes allowed a hit and a walk to bring Mark Melancon out of the bullpen for the third time in four games.
Although Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz brought home a run with a one-out single, Melancon struck out two and induced a game-ending pop-up to record his 29th save.
Gerrit Cole will attempt to match Liriano’s performance Friday night when the Pirates open a nine-game homestand against the last-place Cubs. Pittsburgh will also face Boston and Milwaukee before wrapping up the regular-season home schedule.