The Pittsburgh Pirates (66-44) snapped a two game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night at PNC Park. The win coupled with a Cardinals (64-45) loss, has the Pirates leading the division by 1.5 games over St. Louis and 5.5 games over the Cincinnati Reds (61-50).
Francisco Liriano pitched seven shutout innings and Jose Tabata homered for the first time since May 11th, going 3-4 in the win.
Tabata gave the Pirates a rare impact game from a power standpoint with just his 3rd home run of the season and also tripled as he was a double shy of the cycle. Tabata is hitting .268/.343/.408 with 3 home runs and 13 RBIs on the season. Manger Clint Hurdle was talking up his right fielder tonight. “”We’ve seen Jose swing the bat like this before and be productive over the last few years,” Hurdle said. “Hopefully, he will get hot.”
The Pirates were aggressive on the base paths among the top of the order as Starling Marte stole his 32nd base of the season and Andrew McCutchen stole two bases giving him 23 on the season. Marte’s 32 stolen bases ranks 2nd in the National League.
Liriano who is entering the Cy Young discussion, improved to 12-4, lowering his ERA to 2.02.