Francisco Liriano has been fantastic the entire season.
Throw out a bad start at Colorado in August and another at Milwaukee in September, and his ERA is nearly sub-two.
He reached 16 wins despite pitching just five months of the season, and even with a rocky September leading into tonight’s wild card game versus Cincinnati, picked up his 17th in the biggest start of his career tonight.
Liriano went seven immaculate innings, giving up just four hits and one run, and the Reds were no match for the former Twin and his once-again electric stuff, as the Pirates prevailed 6-2.
Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto was chased after just 3 1/3 innings, giving up four runs. This tweet should tell you all you need to know about how it went for Cueto.
Johnny Cueto allowed 2 HR in an inning for the 1st time since August 21, 2010 vs Dodgers.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 2, 2013
Pirates outfielder Marlon Byrd helped supply the offense, kicking off the scoring with a home run in the second. For Byrd, a magical moment.
Marlon Byrd played 1,250 games & had 4,367 at-bats in his MLB career before his 1st postseason at-bat — a HR to give Pirates 1-0 lead.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 2, 2013
The other Twin comprising Twins East, Justin Morneau, was relatively quiet, going 1-4 at the plate,but he didn’t need to do any more, as the Pirates advance to face division foe St. Louis in the NL Division Series.
