Francisco Liriano threw his best outing of the season throwing eight innings of shutout ball in a 4-1 victory over the Phillies on Thursday night to inch them closer to the division-leading Cardinals.
Liriano didn’t allow a single Phillies baserunner — five total in the game — to reach third base. He did, however, escape a jam of first and second in the third inning with no out. Liriano struck out Phillies starter A.J. Burnett, retired Ben Revere on a lineout to left and struck out Maikel Franco to end the inning.
Liriano did the same in the sixth with first and second and one out. He got Marlon Byrd to pop out to short and struck out Ryan Howard to end the frame. He finished with a season-high twelve strikeouts on the night.
The Pirates (77-69) got to Burnett for a second time this year scoring four times against their former teammate. Ike Davis started things in the second with a RBI single after Starling Marte was by hit by pitch and Russell Martin singled him to third.
Burnett settled down throwing three no-hit innings before the Pirates broke through again in the sixth. Travis Snider started the inning with a single and moved to third on an Andrew McCutchen double. Neil Walker, Martin and Gregory Polanco then followed with a RBI each to push the lead to 4-0.
Jared Hughes started the ninth, but the Phillies (67-79) quickly put the first two runners on base forcing manager Clint Hurdle to go to Mark Melancon for the save opportunity. Melancon (Save #29) allowed one inherited runner to score, but recorded two strikeouts and a pop out to third to end the game.
Final Score: Pirates 4, Phillies 1.
The Pirates finish the season series 6-1 against the Phillies and with the win, pull to within 2 1/2 games of the National League Central division-leading Cardinals, who lost to the Reds 1-0 earlier in the day.
The Pirates also remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the Brewers for the second Wild Card spot. Their playoff magic number has been reduced to 15.
Starters Lines
Liriano (W, 5-10): 8 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 12 K’s, 1 WP. 106 Pitches (69 Strikes).
Burnett (L, 8-16): 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K’s, 1 WP, 1 HBP. 107 Pitches (65 Strikes).
The Pirates now return home for a nine-game homestand — the final homestand of the season — starting with the Cubs tomorrow night.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(RHP) Gerrit Cole (PIT): 8-5, 3.89 ERA
(LHP) Tsuyoshi Wada (CHC): 4-2, 2.95 ERA
First pitch is set for 7:05.
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(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
