Liriano, Bucs kick off key series with win

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Clint Hurdle grabbed the brim of his cap and ducked his head. When pressed about what pleased him the most about Pittsburgh’s 9-2 win over St. Louis on Monday, a romp that propelled the resilient Pirates within a half-game of the NL Central lead, the manager thought for a moment and sighed.

“Getting a little picky aren’t we?” he asked with a smile.

Hurdle isn’t. Neither is his team as it tries to shrug off two decades of misery and mediocrity.

Francisco Liriano allowed one run over seven dominant innings, Pedro Alvarez hit his NL-leading 27th home run and the Pirates kicked off a pivotal series by sending the Cardinals to their season-high fourth straight loss.

Liriano (11-4) continued his midcareer renaissance by striking out eight and walking just two to win his fifth consecutive start.

“It’s been a good run for him being able to watch, and that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing,” Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen said. “I don’t get a lot of action when he’s on the mound. It makes it a lot easier for the defense.”

Having some help from an underachieving offense helps. The Pirates came in hitting just .221 with runners in scoring position, the worst mark in baseball. Clint Barmes smacked two doubles and drove in two runs and McCutchen added two hits as Pittsburgh went 5 for 13 with runners on second or third to continue its mastery over St. Louis starter Jake Westbrook.

The veteran right-hander fell to 1-8 against Pittsburgh in his otherwise solid resume. The Pirates touched Westbrook (7-5) for four runs in the first inning, capped by Alvarez’s three-run homer into the first row of seats in right field.

“It was a battle from pitch 1 — and it showed early on,” Westbrook said. “It’s not really how you draw it up with a walk and a hit batsmen and a single and a homer. Put us in a bad spot against a good team and against a guy who’s throwing the ball really well.”

Hurdle stressed the need to not place too much focus on a late-July series, pointing out two more months remain after the five-game set wraps up on Thursday.

Maybe, but with the Pirates chasing their first playoff berth in 21 years and a chance to make inroads on the team with the best record in baseball, the game had an electricity typically reserved for early fall in cities far away from the one that hasn’t fielded a winner since 1992.

Lower-lever tickets were fetching $100 or more hours before the first pitch, and Liriano did not disappoint the largest Monday-night crowd (32,084) since the park opened.

The left-hander, whose path to stardom veered off track after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2007, had little trouble with the most explosive offense in the majors. He retired the first 10 batters he faced and silenced the best-hitting team in the National League, dropping his ERA to 2.16.

Westbrook still hasn’t figured out a way to handle the Pirates. He was touched for four runs in the first inning of his previous start at PNC Park in April.

The game was eventually washed out.

The weather couldn’t save him this time. Neither could Westbrook’s usually solid control. He issued three walks and hit three batters.

“He’s going to go out there and give us whatever he’s got every time and for whatever reason this team’s just given him a tough time and he’s had a hard time in this stadium,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.