Following a 1-5 road trip, the Pittsburgh Pirates returned to PNC Park and promptly won a 7-3 contest against the Washington Nationals Thursday night.
“It was good to play in front of our hometown fans and good for the guys to push everything back, catch their breath and go out and play a baseball game,” manager Clint Hurdle said.
The Pirates scored first in the bottom of the first inning and used two-out hitting to benefit them in the process. Andrew McCutchen started with a single and Starling Marte followed with an RBI triple, his first three-bagger of the season.
Pedro Alvarez, who earlier in the day was the subject of various trade rumors opened the second inning with an opposite field home run off Doug Fister [3-6]. It was his 13th homer of the season.
Francisco Liriano [6-6] had not allowed a hit to the Nationals through four innings.
“I can’t remember a game through four innings where the only people who played were the pitcher, the catcher and the first baseman,” said Hurdle.
This ended in the fifth inning when Ian Desmond singled. With Clint Robinson already on base via a walk, this placed a runner into scoring position.
Liriano then struggled with his control throwing multiple wild pitches, one of which scored Robinson.
The Pirates responded with two runs in the fifth inning. Marte opened the inning with a one-out single. Jung Ho Kang doubled, his 14th of the season and Marte beat the throw home. Kang advanced to third on the throw. Alvarez picked up his second RBI of the night with a soft hit ground ball that Fister had one play on which was a throw to first base.
A two-run seventh concluded the Pirates scoring. Neil Walker had a leadoff double, his 23rd of the season. Andrew McCutchen then hit his 13th home run of the season off Tanner Roark which landed in the center field seats. This play marked McCutchen’s 600th career run.
Francisco Cervelli homered in the eighth inning off Abel De Los Santos, his fifth of the season. The ball landed in the R on the grassy Pirates logo in straightaway center field.
Ian Desmond connected for a two-run home run off Arquimedes Caminero in the ninth inning. Caminero came into the game with a 7.11 ERA for the month of July. Desmond’s homer was his ninth of the season and 100th of his career.
Liriano picked up the win pitching six-plus innings allowing three hits and striking out 11 batters on 103 pitches, 62 of which were strikes. He told reporters following the outing that his neck was a little sore but that it did not bother him.
Liriano did confirm what Hurdle said pregame which was that he was disappointed to miss his last outing because he wants to go out every fifth day and do his best to help the team win. He was however pleased with his outing in this game.
“I tried to mix my pitches the best I can and execute them,” Liriano said. “I tried to keep it as simple as I could.”
The four-game series continues Friday when Jeff Locke [5-6 4.01 ERA] takes on Max Scherzer [10-8 2.09 ERA]. Locke has no record but owns a 2.53 ERA in two career starts against the Nationals.
He said it: “That fifth inning was almost like a ride at Disneyworld for everybody, and Frankie kept it in check like only he can do.” – manager Clint Hurdle
Photo courtesy: Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo
