You know, all things considered, I think I like 11-0 in nine innings much better than I like 1-0 in 11 innings.
OK, let’s put more of a straight face on. This is (at least) the second year in a row in which the Pirates have faced an inordinate amount of right-handed pitchers early in the season, which has the odd effect of making the Pirates seem like they’re awful at hitting left-handed pitching. It’s an odd effect because the Pirates’ lineup is loaded with right-handed hitters that tend to crush left-handed pitching. Andrew McCutchen’s career numbers against lefties are unfair, Starling Marte is somehow better, Josh Harrison’s breakout last year included a .345 average against lefties, and Jordy Mercer literally only has a career because left-handed pitching exists. On Sunday, Pirate fans freaked out about Sean Rodriguez and Corey Hart in the lineup. After the Pirates only scored one run yesterday, everyone scoffed at the lineup remaining the same, with only Jose Tabata replacing Hart in the lineup. The reality, though, is that those players don’t matter when the Pirates face left-handed pitching. The rest of the lineup is more than good enough that they should be able to score runs against lefties.
That makes this game a little bit more gratifying, because the Pirates just destroyed rookie Carlos Rodon and the rest of the White Sox bullpen. Let’s just run our finger down the box score: the first two hitters (Harrison and Marte) had four hits apiece tonight while the next five (McCutchen, Jung Ho Kang, Francisco Cervelli, Tabata, and Mercer) had two hits apiece. That’s 22 hits amongst the Pirates’ first seven hitters tonight. The Pirates scored 11 runs off of Rodon, Daniel Webb, and Hector Noesi, and they did it without hitting a home run. That’s an impressive night for a offense.
Somehow, Francisco Liriano might’ve been more impressive. He sliced through the White Sox lineup, striking out 12 hitters, walked one, and allowed just two hits in his eight shutout innings. He only needed 100 pitches to get through eight, and had the game been closer, he might’ve had the Pirates’ first complete game shutout this year. Even though no starter has finished a shutout, yet, the Pirates have now shut out their opponents in four of their last five games. The fifth game was started by Gerrit Cole.
This is a really fun baseball team to watch right now, is what I’m trying to say.
Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
