The Pittsburgh Pirates capitalized on an opportunity to narrow the gap to the St Louis Cardinals atop the NL Central by taking three of four from the Philadelphia Phillies. Francisco Liriano was dominant and the Pirates offense was methodical. They now sit 2.5 games back of the Cardinals and keep ahold of the second NL Wild Card spot. 

Liriano faced former Pirates' pitcher A.J. Burnett and both were sharp early. Burnett struck out three in the first two innings, but the Pirates were able to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Russell Martin singled and Starling Marte was hit by a pitch. That was the 17th time Marte was hit by a pitch, which is tied for second in the league. He would leave the game early with discomfort in his elbow. Ike Davis found a hole on the right side of the infield to score Martin. 

The game would remain 1-0 until the top of the sixth inning. The Pirates started the inning with three straight hits by Travis Snider, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker. Gregory Polanco, who replaced Marte, chopped one over the drawn-in infield to cap off the three-run inning. Burnett was clearly frustrated after delivering a good sinker to Polanco only to look it bounce into right field.

Liriano was cruising while giving up four hits over eight innings of work. He had a season-high 12 strikeouts and was rarely challenged. He got in a little bit of trouble with two walks and a wild pitch in the sixth inning but pitched his way out of it. Liriano threw 106 pitches before coming out for Jared Hughes

Hughes was lifted after allowing a single, throwing a wild pitch and a walk. Mark Melancon was brought in to save the Pirates. Melancon allowed a run but struck out two and got Grady Sizemore to pop out to end the game. 

Citizens Bank Park was a quiet place most of the night but some action in the seventh woke the crowd up. McCutchen looked a 96-mph fastball buzz right by his head out of the hand of Luis Garcia. McCutchen did a slow walk around before grounding it back to Garcia a few pitches later. Words were exchanged between McCutchen and the Phillies' bench. It is unclear if there was intention, but the camera did catch an unusual gesture from McCutchen toward his own bench after his sixth inning double. Ryan Howard said a few words after the gesture, but the two looked to laugh it off. The Pirates feel McCutchen has been targeted by opposing teams several times this year. 

The win keeps the Pirates 1.5 games up for the second Wild Card spot and allows them to keep pace with the Giants who have a 4.5 game lead for that top Wild Card spot. However, the Cardinals are now in sight after a 6-4 road trip for the Pirates. They will return home for their final home stand of the season. Friday night will be the start of a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Doug Smith
Doug has a communications background that started with a local weekly newspaper as a high school junior. He has experience in both print and digital as a freelance writer. Doug has covered baseball, soccer, golf, tennis and hockey for three different blog networks. His last print assignment was as a Features editor for a regional newspaper in northwest PA. His personal interests include soccer, especially MLS and the German Bundesliga. He also likes to play tennis in his spare time. He appreciate your readership and welcomes any and all comments. Thank you.