Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways & Throwaways – Death by Home Runs

The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped for the first game of the series against the Chicago Cubs in an ugly 9-4 defeat. Francisco Liriano did not have his best stuff in a game that saw the Cubs continue to show why they are the best team in baseball. Here are the takeaways and throwaways from the afternoon affair.

Takeaways

• The Pirates did collect 11 hits in the game and received multi-hit games from the three outfielders. The problem is that those three players had seven of the 11 hits, so a few timely hits from the other men in the lineup could have resulted in more runs and given the Pirates a better chance to win the game.
• Andrew McCutchen hit his eighth home run of the season, a two run shot in the ninth inning. The home run and his other two hits brought his batting average up to .261 on the season. He’ll need to keep collecting multi-hit games if he is going to bring his average up and potentially get himself back into the MVP discussion.

Throwaways

• Liriano had his worst outing of the season, both in terms of innings pitched and runs given up. He lasted just four and two thirds innings and saw eight runs (all earned) cross the plate. He also served up three home runs, which unfortunately all came with men on base. While he did strike out seven, he issued four free passes, another example that he did not have his best stuff on Friday.
• Defensively the Pirates did not commit any errors, but McCutchen very well could have charged with one when Anthony Rizzo laced a double to deep center field. McCutchen judged the ball poorly and could not  make the play, so in another ballpark (perhaps even PNC Park) he could have very well been charged with an error. He hasn’t been charged with an error yet in 2016, but Friday’s misplay was another close call.

Line of the afternoon: Today this goes to Liriano, and not for the right reasons.

Liriano lasted four and two thirds innings on Friday, giving up eight runs on nine hits and four walks. He did strike out seven, but the punch outs were overshadowed by the three home runs. With an ERA of 4.99 after this abbreviated outing, he’ll need to string together a few quality starts to bring it back down to what fans are used to seeing from the lefty.

Up next: The weekend series continues when Jeff Locke and Jake Arrieta face off at 2:20pm on Saturday. Locke has registered quality starts in his last three outings and has only given up one home run in that period, but he’ll be going up against a very tough Chicago lineup, as his teammate Liriano found out on Friday. Arrieta will look to stay undefeated as he goes for his seventh win of the season and lower his already ridiculous 1.13 ERA.