LIRIANO, BUCS PEN STIFLES CUBS
Martin Drives in Game's Only Runs
PITTSBURGH, Mar. 31 (AP) - Francisco Liriano tossed six shutout innings and
three Pittsburgh relievers each fired a perfect frame as the Pirates defeated
the Chicago Cubs 2-0 before a sellout opening day crowd at PNC Park. Bucs
catcher Russell Martin singled three times and drove in the only two runs of the
game while the quartet of Pirates hurlers held Chicago to only three hits on the
afternoon.
Pittsburgh overcame a string of missed opportunities--the Pirates stranded 12
runners in just eight offensive innings--to record the victory. Cubs
starter Jeff Samardzija was nicked for the contest's first run in the bottom of
the third. Starling Martre led off with a single to center and promptly
stole second base. Travis Snider grounded to third and Andrew McCutcheon
lined out, but just when it seemed that Samardzija would wriggle out of trouble
Pedro Alvarez reached on a swinging bunt infield single, allowing Martre to
advance to third. Martin then grounded sharply toward the middle; Cubs
second baseman Darwin Barney knocked the ball down but had no play. Martre
scored and the Pirates led 1-0.
Pittsburgh doubled its lead in the seventh. With one out, Snider drew a
free pass from Jose Veras. A passed ball charged to catcher Wellington
Castillo advanced Snider to second and a walk issued to McCutcheon put runners
on first and second. A deep fly off the bat of Alvarez moved Snider to
third. For the second time in the game, Martin reached on an infield
single--this one to the left side--scoring Snider to make it 2-0. Neil
Walker drew a free pass to fill the bases, but Brian Schlitter came on to
replace Veras and retired Gaby Sanchez on a grounder to second to avoid further
damage.
Meanwhile, Liriano was keeping the Cubs at bay. Chicago managed to advance
only one runner as far as second base when Anthony Rizzo drew a one-out fourth
inning walk from Liriano and a free pass to Castillo one out later put runners
on first and second. Liriano fanned Nate Schierholtz to end the
inning. It was the only time in the entire game that the Cubs managed to
put two baserunners on in the same frame.
After Liriano was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the sixth, the
Pirates turned to their bullpen. Justin Wilson, Bryan Morris and Mark
Melancon combined to retire all nine batters they faced to close out the
contest, with Melancon being credited with the save. In total, the last 11
Cubs batters were set down in order.
3/31/2014, ChN14-Pit14, PNC Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2014 Cubs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 6 0 2014 Pirates 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 x 2 8 1 12 0 Cubs AB R H BI AVG Pirates AB R H BI AVG Bonifacio cf 4 0 0 0 .000 Marte,S lf 3 1 1 0 .333 Lake lf 3 0 0 0 .000 Snider rf 4 1 1 0 .250 Sweeney ph 1 0 0 0 .000 McCutchen,A cf 2 0 0 0 .000 Castro,S ss 4 0 1 0 .250 Alvarez,P 3b 4 0 2 0 .500 Rizzo 1b 3 0 1 0 .333 Melancon p 0 0 0 0 .000 Olt 3b 3 0 0 0 .000 Martin,R c 4 0 3 2 .750 Valbuena ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Walker,N 2b 2 0 1 0 .500 Castillo,W c 2 0 1 0 .500 Ishikawa 1b 2 0 0 0 .000 Kalish ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Sanchez,G ph 2 0 0 0 .000 Schierholtz rf 3 0 0 0 .000 Mercer ss 4 0 0 0 .000 Barney 2b 3 0 0 0 .000 Liriano,F p 2 0 0 0 .000 Samardzija p 2 0 0 0 .000 Tabata ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Russell p 0 0 0 0 .000 Wilson,Ju p 0 0 0 0 .000 Ruggiano ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Morris p 0 0 0 0 .000 Veras p 0 0 0 0 .000 Harrison,J ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Schlitter p 0 0 0 0 .000 31 2 8 2 Grimm p 0 0 0 0 .000 31 0 3 0 Cubs INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Samardzija L 0-1 5.0 7 1 1 2 3 94 55 1.80 Russell 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 10 8 0.00 Veras 0.2 1 1 1 3 0 29 10 13.50 Schlitter 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 0.00 Grimm 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 15 6 0.00 8.0 8 2 2 6 6 152 82 Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Liriano,F W 1-0 6.0 3 0 0 2 5 80 53 0.00 Wilson,Ju H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 12 9 0.00 Morris H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 10 9 0.00 Melancon S 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 10 7 0.00 9.0 3 0 0 2 7 112 78 ChN: Ruggiano batted for Russell in the 7th Sweeney batted for Lake in the 8th Sweeney moved to lf in the 8th Valbuena batted for Olt in the 9th Kalish batted for Castillo,W in the 9th Pit: Sanchez,G batted for Ishikawa in the 6th Tabata batted for Liriano,F in the 6th Sanchez,G moved to 1b in the 7th Harrison,J batted for Morris in the 8th Harrison,J moved to 3b in the 9th E-Ishikawa. RBI-Martin,R 2(2). SB-Marte,S(1). K-Bonifacio, Lake, Castro,S, Schierholtz 2, Samardzija, Ruggiano, Snider, Alvarez,P, Mercer 2, Liriano,F, Tabata. BB-Rizzo, Castillo,W, Marte,S, Snider, McCutchen,A 2, Walker,N 2. HBP-Marte,S. PB-Castillo,W. HB-Samardzija. GWRBI: Martin,R Temperature: 52, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 11 MPH. Attendance: 38,148 Game Time: 2:54