Pirates vs Reds Friday in Cincinnati – Francisco Liriano will look to continue his good start to the season when the Pittsburgh Pirates visit Alfredo Simon and the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night. After the ragged start, he settled in and retired nine in a row. Cole gave up another run in the fifth and left the game before completing the inning but not before throwing 100 pitches. He also scored on Vogelsong’s wild pitch in the seventh for a 5-2 lead. Manager Clint Hurdle replaced Cole with Arquimedes Caminero. “He’s looking good. I think he’s a dynamic defender”.
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“I started to get into a little bit of a rhythm for a minute there”, he said. “I’ve been working hard in the off-season and in spring training with the coaches”.
“I think he’s already special, not just because of what he’s doing offensively, but the way he transitioned from being an everyday shortstop to playing third base, ” manager Bryan Price said. Iglesias’ best Houdini act came in the fourth when the Pirates loaded the bases with one out but Mercer grounded into an inning-ending double play. It was the Pirates’ first home run of the season in their 131st at-bat. They opened 7-0 in 1938, and 5-0 three other times – 1902, 1976 and 1983.
In his Opening Day start, Francisco Liriano was able to throw six scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals to help him and the Pirates pick up the win.
The University of Cincinnati honored former Bearcat Josh Harrison with a poster giveaway for its baseball game against CT on Saturday. Gregory Polanco strayed too far from first base on a second-inning lineout and John Jaso did the same on a seventh-inning grounder.
Brandon Phillips was back in Cincinnati’s starting lineup after missing two games with a stomach illness.
Starling Marte hit his first career grand slam off Hoover in the eighth inning on Friday night, rallying the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 victory over Cincinnati, which lost for the first time. Hoover came on and gave up the Pirates’ first homer of the season on his second pitch.
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Story’s six home runs in his first four Major League games dominated the agenda for the record keepers, ensuring he joined Willie Mays (1971), Mark McGwire (1998), Nelson Cruz (2011) and Chris Davis (2013) in achieving the feat. He was 1-2 in four starts against them last season, giving up 10 earned runs in 21 innings. His numbers in Detroit weren’t anything to be excited about having an ERA north of five runs per nine innings, but with the Reds pitching staff being depleted due to injuries, they went out and signed him mid-spring.
