Final
Pirates go with Liriano in finale versus Brewers
May 16, 2013 - 2:44 PM (Sports Network) - Francisco Liriano gave the Pittsburgh Pirates' rotation a boost in his 2013 debut last weekend. On Thursday he tries to hurl his new club to a series victory in the finale of a four-game series with the rival Milwaukee Brewers.Signed as a free agent in February, Liriano was not able to make his debut with Pittsburgh until last Saturday as he was recovering from a broken right arm suffered in December. He was worth the wait, holding the New York Mets to a run on six hits and two walks over 5 1/3 innings while striking out nine in a 11-2 victory.
"I tried not to get too excited," Liriano said. "I didn't want to try to do too much."
The 29-year-old lefty has faced the Brewers eight times in his career, all but one of those starts, and is 4-2 against them with a 3.76 earned run average.
Getting the call for the Brewers will be 25-year-old Hiram Burgos, who looks to rebound off of what he called "the worst outing of my career."
Burgos has allowed just six runs while going 1-0 over his first three starts, but was hammered for 12 runs -- 10 earned -- on 11 hits and three walks in just three innings of a 13-7 setback to Cincinnati last Saturday. His ERA jumped from 3.00 to 6.86.
The right-hander was pitching for the first time in 10 days, a no-decision versus Pittsburgh in which he allowed a pair of solo homers to Pedro Alvarez and Michael McKenry in seven innings of work. Burgos also fanned a season-best six batters.
The Brewers have won just twice in 13 games this month, taking the opener of this series on Monday before consecutive setbacks. They are still 10-3 in the last 13 meetings in this series, but are in danger of losing a series to Pittsburgh for the first time since June 1-3 of last year.
The Pirates won a 3-1 contest on Wednesday in a pitcher's duel between Pittsburgh's Wandy Rodriguez and Yovani Gallardo of Milwaukee. Rodriguez picked up the win, striking out five and yielding just one run on a solo homer by Rickie Weeks in the seventh inning. That home run came after Pittsburgh had plated a pair of runs in the sixth to snap a scoreless deadlock.
"He battled from start to finish," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of Rodriguez. "The only tarnish mark was the first-pitch change-up to Weeks. It's the start we needed. He pitched a little bit better than their guy."
Gallardo had allowed just a single and two walks in his first five innings of work before allowing a leadoff double to Starling Marte in the sixth. Andrew McCutchen and Gaby Sanchez later worked one-out walks to load the bases and Neil Walker lined a hit to center to plate two runs.
That was enough to get Pittsburgh its fifth victory in six games and leave Milwaukee looking for answers.
"When Wandy got in trouble, we didn't do the job offensively," Milwaukee outfielder Carlos Gomez said. "He gave the break where we can change the game, and we didn't do it."
The Brewers are 1-5 on a 10-game road trip that ends this weekend in St. Louis, while the Pirates are set to play the second leg of a 10-game homestand on Friday versus Houston.
- MILWAUKEE: 1
PITTSBURGH: 7
Final
May 16 10:18 PM - Neil Walker single to right scored Andrew McCutchen with one out. On the play, Garrett Jones advances to second. Runners on first and second with one out and Russell Martin due up.
Brewers 1, Pirates 7 Bot 6, 1 OutMay 16 9:31 PM - Garrett Jones single to center scored Travis Snider with one out. On the play, Andrew McCutchen advances to third. Runners on first and third with one out and Neil Walker due up.
Brewers 1, Pirates 6 Bot 6, 1 OutMay 16 9:28 PM - Andrew McCutchen single to center scored Starling Marte with one out. On the play, Travis Snider advances to second. Runners on first and second with one out and Garrett Jones due up.
Brewers 1, Pirates 5 Bot 6, 1 OutMay 16 9:27 PM - Travis Snider single to center scored Clint Barmes with one out. On the play, Starling Marte advances to third. Runners on first and third with one out and Andrew McCutchen due up.
Brewers 1, Pirates 4 Bot 6, 1 OutMay 16 9:25 PM - Travis Snider none-out, two-run Home Run (1) to center scored Starling Marte. Andrew McCutchen due up.
Brewers 1, Pirates 3 Bot 5, 0 OutsMay 16 8:47 PM - Clint Barmes double to left scored Pedro Alvarez with two out. Runner on second with two outs and Francisco Liriano due up.
Brewers 1, Pirates 1 Bot 4, 2 OutsMay 16 8:26 PM - Jonathan Lucroy single to center scored Jean Segura with two out. Runner on first with two outs and Carlos Gomez due up.
Brewers 1, Pirates 0 Top 1, 2 OutsMay 16 7:14 PM - MILWAUKEE: 0
PITTSBURGH: 0
Top 1, 0 Outs
May 16 7:08 PM
Related News
- Pirates Top Games of 2023: No. 6 - Drew Maggi gets his moment Dec 23
- The Pirates got it right with Andrew McCutchen Dec 22
- Bucs Arghticles: Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen makes comments after signing Dec 22
- Pirates targeting first baseman in upcoming MLB Draft Dec 22
- Bucs Arghticles: Pirates sign Ryan Mattson Dec 21
- Brewers trade Adrian Houser, Tyrone Taylor to Mets Dec 20
- Brewers sign catcher Eric Haase Dec 20
- Pirates Top Games of 2023: No. 7 - Johan Oviedo shuts out the Royals Dec 20
- Andrew McCutchen re-signs with Pirates for 2024 season Dec 19
- Talk the Plank Podcast: The Pirates are a bit ‘Rowdy’ Dec 19
- Bucs Arghticles: Pirates sign Martín Pérez to deal Dec 19
- Pirates sign Martin Perez to one-year deal Dec 18