We’re now two full months into the season and the Pittsburgh Pirates (34-21) are tied for second place with Cincinnati Reds (34-21), their opponent tonight. They trail the St. Louis Cardinals (35-18) by two games.
Francisco Liriano will look to put the Pirates in excellent position to even the series after the Reds won 6-0 last night behind the outstanding pitching performance of right-hander Johnny Cueto. Cueto went eight innings and only allowed one hit while striking out six.
Getting a quality start out of Liriano isn’t as big of a concern as getting the Pittsburgh bats rolling against Mike Leake. The Pirates have struck out 60 times over their last five games combined. Starling Marte is batting .189 in his last ten games and will sit tonight as Alex Presley gets the start in left field.
Pedro Alvarez returns to the lineup after a two game absence from having his wisdom teeth removed.
Hurdle’s Quotes
On the NL Central having three of the strongest teams in baseball… “I don’t have anything there except three of us are in pretty good shape right now. As the season goes on these divisions get hot at different times. But I’ve got some friends from Texas and Colorado calling me up asking ‘what are you doing [in that division]?'”
On the impact Russell Martin has made calling games this season… “He’s been doing it for quite awhile now and he’s been doing it with good staffs. It’s a lot different calling games when you’ve got highly trained pitchers. He’s a smart guy. He asks good questions. He pays attention. He doesn’t know it all, and he’ll be the first one to tell you that during games, he’s still learning.”
Other Notes
-The Pirates went 19-9 in the month of May. The only two teams to have better records were the St. Louis Cardinals (20-8) and Cincinnati Reds (19-8).
-Neil Walker is batting .406 with two doubles, a triple, and three homers over his last eight games.
-The Pirates are 12-5 at home this season against NL Central rivals.
Photo courtesy of USA Today
