Francisco Liriano post highest ‘game score’ of season for a Pirates starter

The Pittsburgh Pirates rolled to their fifth straight win Monday night with an 11-0 thumping over the Chicago White Sox. While the Pirates put up five runs in the first inning and 11 runs on the night, the star of the game was Francisco Liriano on the mound. Liriano threw 8 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits, while striking out 12 and walking 1. Liriano threw 100 pitches, 69 for strikes. His Bill James game score of 89 was the best score by a Pirates starter this season. It was also Liriano’s 10th quality start as Gerrit Cole, A.J. Burnett and Liriano have combined for 31 quality starts on the season. Liriano inability to go deep in games is about the

Pedro Alvarez’s 10th home run of the season was a towering drive

Pedro Alvarez belted his 10th home run of the season with a towering shot in the second to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead and that’s all Charlie Morton needed in the Pirates 2-0 win over the Brewers. It was of course a solo home run from Alvarez who was 1-3 in the win. Alvarez, though, would leave the game in the sixth due to injury. Your browser does not support iframes. 2015 Stats: .242 – 10 HR – 28 RBI

Charlie Morton shines in throwing 7 1/3 scoreless innings

Charlie Morton (4-0, 2.05) tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings as the Pirates defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 on Wednesday night. Morton allowed just three singles, while striking out six and walking three in the win. Morton improved to 4-0 on the season, the first time in his career he has started a season 4-0. The Brewers had no answers for Morton’s filthy sinker ball. 2015 Stats: 4-0, 2.05 ERA, 12 SO, 7 BB, 1.06 WHIP

Starling Marte drove in 5-runs over three game set vs Braves

Starling Marte’s 2-run single in the fifth inning fueled a three-run fifth for the Pirates in their 3-0 shutout win over the Braves on Sunday afternoon. Marte went 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and a stolen base in the win. Marte drove in five-runs over the three game set vs the Braves as the Pirates took two of three games. Friday night Marte snapped an 0-for-21 slump, belting a two-run opposite-field homer, while going 2-for-3 with three RBI. 2015 Stats: .256 – 11 HR – 39 RBI

Gerrit Cole improves to an NL best 9-2 with a 1.73 ERA on the season

In what’s becoming the norm, the Pirates got another dominant start from Gerrit Cole even though he didn’t have his best command in a 3-0 shutout win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday afternoon. Cole’s day — 7 IP, 6 hits, 0 ER, 7 SO, 3 BB — Cole threw a career high 116 pitches, 74 for strikes. Improving to 9-2 with a 1.73 ERA on the season, Cole threw seven scoreless innings for his fourth straight win as Pirate starters have wins in 16 straight Pirate wins. Cole’s ability to escape tough jams has been a staple of his season. He escaped a bases loaded jam in the third inning by striking out Nick Markakis and getting Juan Uribe

Francisco Cervelli lifts average up to .331 after four hit night in Pirates 10-8 win

The Pittsburgh Pirates extended their winning streak to four games with a 10-8 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night and Francisco Cervelli continues to shine. Cerveilli had his second four-hit game of his career, going 4-5 with 2 RBIs, upping his average to .331 on the season. In his past 14 games, Cervelli is hitting .438 (21-for-48). Pirates manager Clint Hurdle had lots of praise for Cervelli last night. “Once he got through that stretch of games, with all the foul tips and dirt balls and everything, he’s played real good baseball for us,” Hurdle said via Pirates.com. “He’s framing [pitches] well, blocking well, calling a good game. And then to show up with such a big offensive

Charlie Morton picks up third win of the season despite rocky outing

Charlie Morton (3-0, 1.93) lasted just five innings but picked up his third win of the season in the Pirates 10-8 win over the Braves. Morton allowed 7 hits, 4 runs (3 ER), while walking 3 and striking out 1 Pirate starters have now collected wins in 15 straight Pirate wins. 2015 Stats: 3-0, 2.84 ERA, 6 SO, 4 BB, 1.16 WHIP

Jordy Mercer hits first home run of the season

With Jung Ho Kang in a funk (0 for his last 14) and struggling in the field, Jordy Mercer got the start at shortstop Tuesday night and was impactful at the plate, hitting his first home run of the season Tuesday night in the Pirates 7-4 win. Mercer’s solo shot in the fifth inning pushed the Pirates lead to 6-4. Mercer was 2-4 in the game, his third multi-hit game over his last six starts. 2015 Stats: .201 – 1 HR – 10 RBI

Andrew McCutchen red-hot

Andrew McCutchen had 4 hits and drove in 2 runs, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 7-4 win over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. McCutchen went 4-5 with a triple, double, 2 RBI in the victory as the former MVP is red-hot. McCutchen is now hitting 398 (37-for-93) over his past 26 games, with 11 doubles, a triple, 5 home runs, 21 RBI and 17 runs scored. McCutchen now has a batting line of .292/.379/.497 on the season. He was batting .185 on May 5th 2015 Stats: .292 – 7 HR – 34 RBI

Gerrit Cole shuts down Giants

Gerrit Cole (8-2, 1.90 ERA) struck out nine and shut down the San Francisco Giants after allowing 2 runs (0 earned) in the first inning, leading the Pirates to a 4-3 win over the Giants. Cole tied for the MLB lead with 8 wins, has an MLB best 12 wins since September. Cole’s night of work — 7 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, 9 SO, 2 BB. Cole found another gear as the game progressed, highlighted by getting out of trouble in the sixth inning. Cole struck out the side in order in the fourth, then worked a 1-2-3 fifth before loading the bases with none out in the sixth. He got out of it with a strikeout of Brandon