PNC Park -- At 1:14 pm under clear skies, Francisco Liriano threw a strike to Emilio Bonifacio to kick off the 128th season of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club. Liriano would continue where he left off last postseason with a 4-hit, 10 strikeout performance (No decision) and Neil Walker hit a walk-off home run in the tenth inning for a Pirates 1-0 victory. It was a pitchers duel until the Cubs threatened in the fifth when Nate Schierholtz led off with a single and Darwin Barney followed with a ... Read More
Francisco Liriano Named Opening Day Starter
Clint Hurdle took no time in announcing his opening day starters he has given Francisco Liriano the honor on the first full day of spring training workouts. Liriano, last years NL Comeback Player of the Year, had a stellar 2013 posting a 16 - 8 record in 26 games with a 3.02 ERA and 163 strikeouts in 161 innings of work. His ERA would have been in the mid-two's had he not have given up 10 runs in Colorado and 7 runs in Milwaukee which dropped him out of Cy Young consideration. He finished ninth ... Read More
Francisco Liriano has been named the MLB NL Comeback Player of the Year
Francisco has been named the MLB NL Comeback Player of the Year as well as the Players Choice NL Comeback Player of the Year. The Comeback Player of the Year Awards are officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball and presented annually to one player in each League who has re-emerged on the field during the season. The 30 Club beat reporters from MLB.com, the official web site of Major League Baseball, selected the winners from an original list of 30 candidates (one per MLB Club). Liriano, ... Read More
Liriano Named Sporting News NL Comeback POY
Follow @TBerardi_OVA Francisco Liriano has been named the Sporting News NL Comeback Player of the Year as voted by the NL players. Liriano posted a 16 - 8 record with a 3.02 ERA in 26 starts for the Pirates while striking out 163 batters and walking 63. He was signed in the offseason to a two-year, seven million dollar deal which had been reworked down from a larger amount after he suffered a broken non-throwing arm on Christmas Day of last year while playing with his children. The injury ... Read More
The Pirates…and Their Fans Beat the Reds 6 – 2
Follow @TBerardi_OVA Pittsburgh has waited 21 years for a game like this to occur and they made sure their voices were heard as they rattled Johnny Cueto, leading to an early lead which enough for Francisco Liriano, who threw another gem against the Reds in a 6 - 2 NL Wild Card victory on Tuesday night. The momentum started to swing in the top of the second when Marlon Byrd, who was making his first postseason plate appearance, homered to left sending the already loud crowd at PNC into a ... Read More
Pirates Blow Ninth Inning Lead, Lose in 10
The Reds scored three unearned runs in the ninth off of Mark Melancon following a Jordy Mercer throwing error and one in the tenth to stun the Pirates and their sellout crowd 6 - 5 on Friday night. The loss erased an amazing performance by Francisco Liriano, who threw eight innings of two-run, three-hit ball while striking out seven. "I felt fine," said Liriano. "I was locating my pitches where I wanted to and made some adjustments on my pitches and put us in position to win the ball game. ... Read More
Pirates Gameday: The Postseason Begins Tonight
Follow @TBerardi_OVA 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 ... Read More
Liriano Throws 6 Innings Of No-Hit Ball, Pirates Win 3 – 2
Francisco Liriano took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before allowing three straight hits, one being a game-tying homer to Wellington Castillo, but Justin Morneau backed him up with a RBI single in the 8th, propelling the Pirates to a 3 - 2 series-clinching victory on Sunday afternoon. Liriano dominated the Cubs offense through six innings while walking four. He did encounter a jam in the sixth without surrendering a hit. He walked Cubs pitcher, Travis Wood to lead off the inning. Wood ... Read More
Pirates Back On Top In NL Central With 5 – 0 Victory
Garrett Jones made the most of his first start at first base in a while with a 3-for-4 night with a homer and 4 RBI's and Francisco Liriano continued his dominance of the Cardinals as the Pirates pull back into a tie with St. Louis for first place in the NL Central with a 5 - 0 victory on Friday night. For Jones, it was a breath of fresh air after a few days off. Jones was batting .119 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI before tonight and was given time off to mentally recharge the batteries. That ... Read More
Pirates Gameday: Liriano Named N.L. POTW, Hurdle Talks Closers
(Photo Credit: Matt Freed/Post-Gazette) PNC Park -- The Pirates (67 - 44) look to enact revenge on the Marlins (43 - 67) after dropping 2-of-3 in Miami a week and a half ago. Jeff Locke (9 - 3, 2.36 ERA) will face Henderson Alvarez (2 - 1, 2.61 ERA). Leading Off Francisco Liriano was named NL Player of the Week after going 2 - 0 in two starts last week, ranking among the league leaders with 14 innings pitched (2nd) and 14 strikeouts (T-4th). His 0.64 ERA (1 ER / 14 IN) was the lowest among ... Read More