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Liriano, Pirates rout White Sox

Jun 16, 2015 - 5:19 AM Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Josh Harrison and Starling Marte set the tone at the top of the lineup as the Pittsburgh Pirates crushed the Chicago White Sox 11-0 in the first of four interleague games between the teams.

The Pirates' offense finally caught up with a pitching staff that has posted four shutouts during a five-game winning streak.

Francisco Liriano (4-5) threw the latest gem and was nearly as impressive as when he no-hit the White Sox on May 3, 2011. The left-hander faced one over the minimum in his eight innings, struck out 12 and allowed just two hits and one walk.

The offense was more than enough, as Harrison and Marte both accounted for four of Pittsburgh's 18 hits and combined for five runs scored and three RBI.

Francisco Cervelli and Jung-Ho Kang each went 2-for-4 and knocked in a pair, while Andrew McCutchen finished with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI.

"Everybody got a little piece of it today," Harrison said. "It was fun."

Most of the damage was done against rookie Carlos Rodon (2-1), who had given up just three earned runs over his previous four starts but did not make it out of the fourth inning in this one.

The first six hitters he faced all reached base, with McCutchen and Kang hitting similar RBI singles through the left side, Cervelli tripling to right to plate a pair, and Jose Tabata capping the five-run inning with a run- scoring base hit.

Rodon was pulled after giving up a two-out RBI single to Harrison in the fourth and was charged with a seventh run when Daniel Webb gave up an RBI single to Marte.

"There wasn't anything good about (Rodon's outing)," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "For a young guy, everyone has those."

Jordy Mercer doubled in Kang in the fifth, and the Pirates tacked on three more runs in the sixth. After Harrison singled, Marte sliced a liner into the right-field corner and tried legging out a triple. The throw to third got away from Gordon Beckham, and Marte scored on the error.

McCutchen and Kang followed with consecutive doubles to bring in another run, and Rob Scahill finished off the shutout with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Game Notes

The Pirates will host the first two games of the series before traveling to Chicago for another pair of games ... Cervelli has caught 42.0 consecutive scoreless innings over the course of four games ... The White Sox have dropped five straight road games and four in a row overall ... Harrison, who also stole two bases, has reached base in six straight plate appearances ... Liriano has recorded five straight quality starts ... The White Sox swept a three-game series in Pittsburgh when the clubs last met in 2010.