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The Pirates (88 – 65) open up a crucial 3-game set against the Reds (87 – 66) to close out the home portion of the 2013 regular season. Francisco Liriano (16 – 7, 2.92 ERA) faces Matt Latos (14 – 6, 3.14 ERA)
Leading Off
With nine games remaining, the Pirates trail the Cardinals by one game in the NL Central race. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 4, meaning they could clinch as early as tomorrow night.
Hurdle’s Quotes
On Neil Walker’s hot bat as of late — “It’d be a good time for anybody that wants to get hot, to get hot. I know Neil’s been working hard to get things tightened up offensively, yesterday was a big step forward for him. You know we need to get guys on in front of Cutch. Tabata’s back in there and does a really professional job. Big hit! Driving the ball over the right-fielders head with two outs to give us some room early. He continues to find ways to score runs. And up-and-down the lineup we had much better at bats yesterday.”
On Gerrit Cole playing stopper the past month — “He’s shown the ability to stop a slide. To stop it from going in a direction you don’t want it to go in. The big game, the last three; two of the last three especially. The one coming out of St. Louis, matching up with Darvish. And pitch as powerfully and efficiently as he did. He continues to grow up right in front of our eyes. I think you saw the pace quicken up too after the first inning. He did get nicked for a run, but I think that is something he’s mindful of. We stay on him, you know, “let’s keep working efficiently.”
Other Notes
— The Pirates pitching staff enters tonight’s action five strikeouts shy of tying the club record of 1,192 K’s, which was set by the 2012 squad.
— In his 10 starts at PNC Park this season, Francisco Liriano has gone 8 – 1 with a 1.37 ERA (65 2/3 IN / 10 ER). He has pitched into the 6th inning in all 10 starts and has held the opposition to a .181 batting average (42-for-232) and one home run while striking out 65.
First pitch is set for 7:05.
(Photo Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
