RECAP - Pirates - 5 / Cardinals - 0

Garrett Jones was ALL SMILES vs the Cardinals Last Night

Pittsburgh Pirates - 5
St. Louis Cardinals - 0

WP - Francisco Liriano
LP - Miller

The Pittsburgh Pirates got the start they needed from Frank "The Tank" Liriano, and a surprising offensive outburst by the Bucco offense.  Putting it bluntly, the Pirates couldn't have asked for a better start to this gigantic series with the St. Louis Cardinals.  If you missed the game, you missed a wonderful performance by Francisco Liriano, but should we be surprised?  Listen to these stats that I tweeted last night before the game (you can follow me - @BnGBlitz) - Liriano is 7-2 with a 1.42 ERA when starting following a Pirates loss.  It kind of makes you think that Liriano should start after a loss every time he pitches...come to think of it...if Gerrit Cole remains as the starter before Francisco that might be a possibility (that might have been a little harsh).  You can't say enough about Liriano's ability to be the "stopper" that the Pirates need him to be.  His ability to get ahead of batters, to be efficient, and work deep into games is near unfounded amongst the rest of the Pirates' pitching staff.  Liriano's victory gives him a 15-6 record and an astounding 2.57 ERA this year...those are numbers of a staff ace, and the Pirates wouldn't be in the situation they are right now without him this year.

This game wasn't a 1-0 win for Liriano...the Pirates' offense actually showed up, and first once that wasn't behind a certain player named McCutchen.  No, Andrew McCutchen had the rare off night where he went hitless.  I know, hitless.  That is so rare I felt I had to actually put it in the recap, but what is even more rare is the player who had the offensive performance of his career last night.  That player was Garrett Jones.  Jones led the offense by going 3-4 with a run scored and 4 RBIs.  He got things started off right when the Pirates had the bases loaded in the bottom of the first and he laced a single into right field scoring 2.  Turns out, that's all the offense that Liriano would need, but the Pirates would add on.  Jones and Russell Martin would hit back to back home runs, and Neil Walker and Jose "Kissy Neck" Tabata both registered 2 hit games as the Pirates put up 5 runs against the Cardinals and that proved to be plenty against a Cardinals offense that simply couldn't get going against the Pirates pitching.

The rest of this series with the St. Louis Cardinals is big in terms of who will have sole possession of 1st place in the NL Central, but Pirates fans should avoid the tendency to constantly say "this will determine who will win the division" or "this is the biggest series of the year" simply because there is still a month left of baseball to be played.  Just take a look at some of the series the Pirates have coming up...following this series with the Cardinals, there are 3 @ Milwaukee, 3 @ St. Louis, 3 @ Texas, and 6 games still to be played against the Cincinnati Reds.  Needless to say, a lot can change in that amount of time.  That doesn't mean that the Pirates can't hold off the Cardinals, but that just means that a lot can change in a month's time...but in the meantime, sit back and enjoy this magical season.