The Pittsburgh Pirates were hoping for its first comeback from being seven runs down against the same Minnesota Twins ball club they accomplished the feat against on June 10, 2001. The Pirates ultimately came up short, however, losing 8-5.
The Pirates outhit the Twins 13-8 but stranded 10 base runners to the Twins three.
“We’ve got more guts than good right now,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We battle and we’re going to fight you unfortunately it’s our own hands that we’re digging some of these holes. It’s been hard since Opening Day. We just need to execute better.”
It was an outing to forget for Francisco Liriano [1-4] as he made it two innings and allowed seven of the eight runs. He allowed seven hits while walking and striking out two batters apiece. Liriano struggled with control throwing 55 pitches 28 of which were for strikes.
“The command was an issue,” said Hurdle. “He was behind in the count and the breaking balls and changeups weren’t where he wanted them to be and the fastballs caught too much of the plate. It was a hard night on the mound for him.”
Liriano’s troubles started with Brian Dozier’s seventh home run of the season on a 2-0 count. It was a solo homer which extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
The second inning resulted in seven runs and 40 pitches for Liriano. A wild pitch scored the first run followed by a bases-clearing RBI single from Joe Mauer to increase the lead to five. On the play Marte throw was short of home plate and not at full speed. It was caught by a cutoff man and as a result the third run scored.
“That’s a run we could have defended better,” Hurdle said.
Trevor Plouffe followed Mauer’s hit with one of his own; his sixth homer of the season, a two-run homer into left-center field.
Liriano’s removal after two innings represents his shortest outing since September 11, 2012.
Liriano was not available to reporters following the game.
“He’s going to take ownership of it,” said Hurdle. ” He’ll be back and he’ll be better. Tonight just wasn’t a night he was able to do what he wanted to do.”
Pinch-hitter Jose Tabata’s RBI single added a Pirate run, but the team left three runners on base that inning. Tabata’s single came with Jung Ho Kang in scoring position because of a single and a Pedro Alvarez single.
An additional Twins run was earned in the third inning of reliever Radhames Liz. Catcher Kurt Suzuki led off with a double and would score on a Shane Robinson double play.
The Pirates scored a run in the fourth inning on a 461-foot home run by Pedro Alvarez. The ball went into a boat on the Allegheny River and thus became the third ever ball to land into the river on the fly. Daryle Ward and Garrett Jones were the other two that accomplished the feat.
“I was just happy I could put a good swing on the ball,” Alvarez said. “Unfortunately we couldn’t get the win today and that trumps everything else.”
Additional runs were scored in the fifth inning when Kang had an RBI ground out to score Neil Walker, the sixth when Walker hit an RBI double and the seventh when Josh Harrison had an RBI single.
Glen Perkins pitched the ninth inning and earned his 14th save of the season and 15th of his Interleague career.
The two game series concludes Wednesday when Mike Pelfrey [3-1 3.23 ERA] takes on Jeff Locke [2-2 5.40 ERA]. Locke will make his first career start against the Twins. Pelfrey is 3-2 against the Pirates with a 4.78 ERA against the Pirates in seven starts.
Photo credit: @Pirates
