The Pittsburgh Pirates are 1-6 in May after an 8-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals last night. The series resumes tonight at 7:05.
In the loss, Francisco Liriano had an outing Pirates manager Clint Hurdle referred to as a “mixed bag”. Though Liriano struck out 10 batters and limited his walk total to one, he allowed six runs five of which were earned. Liriano was disappointed with his pitch location as he left pitches over the plate that the Cardinals were able to attack, the biggest being a three-run home run from Matt Holliday. This was one of two three-run homers the Cardinals hit.
Hurdle was happy with the Pirates offense for the second consecutive night.
The Cardinals have posted a 6-1 record in May and lead the National League Central by 6.5 games. The lone loss was by one run. Since the Pirates series this past weekend, the Cardinals have averaged seven runs a game. Kolten Wong was a triple short of hitting for the cycle in last night’s game. He is batting .591 over his past six games. A win tonight for the Cardinals would give them an eight game winning streak against the Pirates. The Cardinals have not lost a Saturday game yet this season posting a 4-0 record.
Tonight’s starters:
The Pittsburgh Pirates will send right-handed starter Vance Worley [2-2 3.90 ERA] to the mound against Carlos Martinez [3-0 3.64 ERA].
Worley is 0-0 with a 4.03 ERA in four career starts against the Cardinals. His last start was against the Cardinals and he allowed one run on four hits in six innings. On the season Worley has allowed 32 hits in 30 innings.
Martinez is making his sixth start of the season and ranks third in the National League with a 1.29 road ERA. This is his second start against the Pirates and he received a no-decision. Martinez is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in four career relief appearances at PNC Park. Pirates hitters are batting .277 against Martinez going into this contest.
Pregame thoughts:
Charlie Morton returned to PNC Park after a successful rehab start with the Altoona Curve. Morton threw seven shutout innings in which he allowed two hits and two walks.
Morton is recovering from right hip surgery and the pitcher known as “Ground Chuck” lived up to his nickname as all but seven of his outs were via the ground ball.
“Down in extended [Spring Training] I was getting a lot of ground balls yesterday and that’s a good sign,” Morton said.
In the outing, Morton retired 13 consecutive batters from the second through sixth inning.
Morton was honest in his pregame session with the media reflecting on his exhibition start in Philadelphia Phillies.
“I wanted to pitch in Milwaukee that Saturday but there was no way, I was throwing behind guys,” said Morton. “I’m not trying to throw behind guys the ball was just not going where I wanted it to. That’s just being realistic with where I was.”
“I know I could go get major league hitters out, I believe that,” Morton said. “I thought that last year when I was shut down. It’s not just going out there, it’s getting the job done and winning games.”
In today’s lineup Hurdle is going with the hot hand with Jung-ho Kang earning a start at third base. Kang is 11-for-27, good for a .407 batting average in his last 10 games.
This means that Josh Harrison will be out of the starting lineup for the second time this week. Harrison has one hit in his past 21 at-bats.
“There’s a difference in taking your bat out to the field and the game getting fast for you sometimes in certain areas,” Hurdle said. “I don’t think we have a player here who is selfish, I think the game can turn you into a survivor sometimes where you’re just trying to sell out just to keep yourself above water. I think Josh is working to find that rhythm and balance on both sides of the ball.”
Bottom of the ninth:
You can call Hurdle an extreme optimist but until the final out was made last night, he did not think the Pirates were going to lose until after the final out was made.
“I had the ninth inning scripted,” said Hurdle. “Pedro was hitting a walk off home run, that’s where I was going with it until it doesn’t happen. That’s how I show up every day. It’s kind of crazy but it kind of drips off on the other guys.”
