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 victory 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 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 consecutive loss.
Liriano (11-4) continued his midcareer renaissance by striking out eight and walking just two to win his fifth start in a row.
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 Andrew 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 home run into the first row of seats in right field.
“It was a battle from pitch one - 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 ina bad spot against a good team and against a guy who’s throwing the ball really well.”
The left-hander, whose path to stardom veered off track after undergoing elbow ligament replacement surgery in 2007 while with the Minnesota Twins, had little trouble with the most explosive offense in the majors. He retired the first 10 batters he faced and kept the best-hitting team in the National League on its heels while dropping his ERA to 2.16.
BRAVES 9, ROCKIES 8, 10 INN. Andrelton Simmons drove in Dan Uggla from first base with a triple off Edgmer Escalona in the 10th inning, and host Atlanta won its fourth consecutive game with a victory over Colorado. After Uggla led off with a walk, Simmons hit the ball too deep into the gap in left-center field for Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler to keep it from reaching the wall. Scott Downs (1-0) earned the victory after being acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels earlier in the day and arriving at Turner Field not long before the first pitch. The left-hander allowed one hit and struck out one in 1 1/3 innings.
METS 6, MARLINS 5 Ike Davis had a go ahead RBI double in a three-run seventh inning, Daniel Murphy drove in three runs, and visiting New York snapped a five-game skid against Miami.
BREWERS 5, CUBS 0 Carlos Gomez broke a scoreless tie in the ninth inning with an RBI single and Jeff Bianchi added a two-run double to lift visiting Milwaukee over the Chicago Cubs.
AMERICAN LEAGUE RAYS 2, RED SOX 1 David Price allowed just two hits over 7 1/3 innings to beat Boston for the second time in six days as visiting Tampa Bay reclaimed first place in the AL East. Price (6-5) was dominating in the makeup game before it was delayed for 39 minutes because of a brief downpour in the middle of the eighth. The Rays left-hander stayed in the game, but retired just one batter - after starting him out with three consecutive balls - before Joel Peralta relieved him. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 26th save. He gave up a single to Jacoby Ellsbury, walked David Ortiz and threw a wild pitch before Mike Napoli struck out on a 3-2 change up to end it.
INDIANS 3, WHITE SOX 2 Pinch-hitter Jason Giambi homered over the center field wall leading off the ninth inning to give Cleveland its fifth consecutive victory, beating the Chicago White Sox. Giambi, batting for struggling Mark Reynolds, belted a 1-1 pitch from Ramon Troncoso (1-3) high over the wall and into the bushes in center. It was the 436th career home run and ninth career game-winning shot for Giambi.
RANGERS 4, ANGELS 3 Geovany Soto hit a game-ending home run after A.J. Pierzynski went deep to tie the game earlier in the ninth off closer Ernesto Frieri, and host Texas snapped a four-game skid in a victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Monday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Pittsburgh 9, St. Louis 2 Atlanta 9, Colorado 8 (10) NY Mets 6, Miami 5 Milwaukee 5, Chicago Cubs 0 San Diego 2, Cincinnati 1 AMERICAN LEAGUE Tampa Bay 2, Boston 1 Cleveland 3, Chicago White Sox 2 Texas 4, LA Angels 3 Oakland 9, Toronto 4
Sports, Pages 18 on 07/30/2013