It’s May 13th, sure, but the Pirates are seven games behind a Cub team loaded with talent that was off to an all-time great start before losing both ends of a double-header on Wednesday. The Pirates can’t erase seven games this weekend, but they can cut into that lead a little bit (or a lot! if you choose to be optimistic), they can erase the bad taste from the blow-out sweep at the hands of the Cubs ten days ago, and they can at least make an argument that at the very least the NL Central race won’t be over before Memorial Day. They can also do the opposite of that if they lose two or three games this week. For May baseball, there’s quite a bit at stake here.
Francisco Liriano starts for the Pirates this afternoon, and he’s turned in two really excellent starts against the Reds and Cardinals since his ugly West Coast trip in early April. He faces Jason Hammel, who is not really all that good but who occasionally masquerades as an excellent pitcher. We’re right in the middle of one of those spots for Hammel, as he’s started 2016 off with a spotless 4-0 record and an ERA that JUMPED to 1.85 after giving up five runs in ten innings against the Pirates and Nats in his last two starts. Those last two starts have not been great, obviously, and so maybe it’s time for the Pirate offense to bring him back to Earth. If this series is anything like the last Cub series, the offense probably has its work cut out for it this weekend.
First pitch is at 2:20 today.
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