Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano threw six innings and surrendered one run. It was not enough.
The Pirates offense was held to two hits in a 1-0 loss against the Detroit Tigers Wednesday and losing the three-game series, 2-1.
“We’ve got some pitches to hit and get into offensive counts but we haven’t been able to get the at-bat that we need,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “Right now, we’ve got work to do on the offensive end.”
For the second consecutive game, former Pittsburgh Pirate Rajai Davis hurt his old team. Tuesday it was a seventh inning RBI single and in this game it was Davis’s first home run of the season, which came in the sixth inning.
With the exception of the Davis homer, Liriano [0-1] was in control of the Tigers. He threw six innings allowing four hits, one run, one walk and seven strike outs. Liriano threw 89 pitches, 58 of which were strikes.
“I felt great, I just made a mistake in the sixth,” Liriano said. “You can’t make too many mistakes at this level, so I hung a pitch and [Davis] put a good swing on it. Other than that, everything feels great.”
The Pirates had their biggest scoring opportunity in the fourth inning. Josh Harrison and Gregory Polanco each grounded out. Andrew McCutchen singled and reached second base on Neil Walker’s single. This made McCutchen the first Pirate to safely reach second base since Corey Hart’s home opening seventh inning home run.
Simon [2-0], the former Cincinnati Red, came into this game with a 2-3 road record at PNC Park with a 2.84 ERA. He retired 13 consecutive Pirates batters surpassing Shane Greene’s mark of 10 from Tuesday evening. Simon started the streak with a Starling Marte ground out in the fourth inning. Simon threw 108 pitches over the course of eight innings, 67 of which were strikes. Simon allowed two hits and struck out two batters.
Joakim Soria came in to close the game and matched his performance for save number four on the season.
This series, Pirates received quality starts from Liriano, Gerrit Cole and A.J. Burnett with all three going at least six innings while striking out seven batters.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the pitching staff the way they came in and pitched these three games, especially the starting pitchers,” said Hurdle. “We’ve pitched well, followed our game plan and now we have to find a way to get our guys rolling on offense.”
The Pirates also have not scored a run in their last 19 innings and have not drawn a walk since Saturday.
“You just keep playing and keep working,” Hurdle said. “You look at the positives guys have to take it upon themselves individually to throw up the best at-bat that they can every time they go up there and try to put the guy behind them in a better spot than they’re in. We’ve been in this spot before and when you dig a little hole, you just have to find a way to get yourself out of it.”
The Pirates will have a day off Thursday before facing the Milwaukee Brewers in a 7:05 p.m. contest. Jeff Locke [1-0 3.00 ERA] will face Jimmy Nelson [1-0 0.00 ERA]. Locke is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA against the Brewers in eight career starts. Locke defeated the Brewers 6-2 this past Friday.
