With a fifth victory in a row, the Pittsburgh Pirates (11-8) defeated the scuffling Arizona Diamondbacks (8-10) on Sunday afternoon 8-0, to complete a three-game weekend sweep at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Francisco Liriano (1-1) battled through some control issues to earn the victory after supplying six and one-third scoreless innings, striking out seven and walking six. Arizona hitters only managed two hits off of the Pittsburgh lefty and just three for the entire game. Jared Hughes inherited two runners when Clint Hurdle pulled Liriano in the seventh and immediately induced an inning-ending double play. Arquimedes Caminero and Antonio Bastardo pitched scoreless innings of relief to complete the shutout. Liriano’s ERA now stands at 2.22 for the year. By defeating Arizona, he has now earned a win against every team in Major League Baseball.
As hot as Pirates pitching was, the bats were too, as Pedro Alvarez drove in two runs in the first inning for a quick 2-0 lead. Neil Walker hit a two-run double in the fifth for a 4-0 advantage and Chris Stewart hit a long sacrifice fly in the eighth to add on. In the ninth, Josh Harrison and Gregory Polanco hit doubles, Andrew McCutchen hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Polanco, and Sean Rodriguez drove in Walker later to pile on the Diamondbacks.
Arizona starter Jeremy Hellickson (1-3) allowed four runs on seven hits and did not get through the fifth inning, taking the loss. Reliever Daniel Hudson allowed the three runs Pittsburgh scored in the ninth.
All Pittsburgh position players who started contributed offensively as only Stewart went without a hit, though he had the sacrifice fly RBI and hit the ball hard three times. Harrison, Polanco, Walker and Starling Marte each had multiple hits; Polanco and Walker each had three. Walker and Alvarez each led the way with two RBI.
The Pirates now travel to Wrigley Field in Chicago to play the Cubs (10-7). Each team is two games back of the St. Louis Cardinals (12-5), though Chicago is technically in second place due to winning percentage. Pittsburgh’s five-game winning streak is tied with Tampa Bay and Miami for the current longest in all of baseball. Vance Worley (2-1) will take on Jason Hammel (1-1) for an 8:05 first pitch.
