In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates broke out the lumber yesterday, beating up on the Arizona Diamondbacks by a score of 12-1. Check our Takeaways and Throwaways from last night to get caught up on the important items from the game.
Though many got into the action, it was clearly Gregory Polanco‘s night. He is now fully cemented in the number three spot in the order, and it seems to agree with him. He got the scoring started early with a three-run home run in the first inning, part of a 3-for-5 night. Starling Marte, Josh Harrison, Andrew McCutchen and Jordy Mercer all had two hits each for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who showed what they could do when their potent offense meets a struggling pitcher in Shelby Miller.
Liriano was not Liriano
Francisco Liriano picked up the win, but needed 98 pitches to get through 5.2 innings. Though he exited having only given up one run, his performance was very un-Liriano like. Only 48 of those 98 pitches were strikes, and only five of those 48 strikes came by a swing-and-miss. Many will point to last night’s umpiring as being unkind to pitchers, but for a pitcher who has good whiff percentages for his career, the fact that so few hitters were fooled is alarming.
In 2015, Liriano had less than 10 swinging strikes just three times in 31 starts. He has already matched that mark in 2016 in just nine starts.
Yesterday’s Player of the Game
After each game – win or lose – we put out a Twitter Poll to find out who you feel should take home ‘Player of the Game’ honors. Here’s yesterday’s result, as if there was any question:
Who is your #Pirates player of the game after 12-1 win?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) May 25, 2016
Remember to check our Twitter Feed shortly after the game to vote in our poll!
Baseball Talk on the Web
- Former Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Russell Martin had another appearance at second base last night for the Blue Jays. CBC has the story.
- Closer Francisco Rodriguez became the sixth player to join the 400-save club.
- Call To The Pen details the struggles of New York Mets SP Matt Harvey
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