Pittsburgh Pirates SP Francisco Liriano pitches scoreless outing, ties St. Louis Cardinals in NL Central

Aug 24, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano (47) throws the ball to first to record an out after fielding a ground ball against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning at AT /

Maybe the Pittsburgh Pirates won’t continue their path of self-destruction for the third straight year. Francisco Liriano dominates the first game of an important weekend series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Both teams find themselves atop of the National League Central with a record of 78-56. The Pirates would grab their 44th victory at PNC Park, and are now 20 games above .500 at home this season.

From the Associated Press:

"Francisco Liriano (15-6) allowed just two hits over eight innings, walking two and striking out six to reach the 15-win plateau for the first time.Jones came in hitting just .119 in August but broke out against St. Louis starter Shelby Miller (12-9).Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle gave Jones some time off to figure things out earlier this week. For a night, the tinkering worked.Jones hit a two-run double in the first inning to give Pittsburgh the lead, added a moon shot to the seats in right field off Miller in the fourth and followed it up with an RBI single in the fifth."

Liriano is now 4-0 against the Cardinals and could be a huge threat in the postseason. Assuming the Pirates can hold on to a postseason berth. That’s not a given just yet with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals making late pushes in the wild card race.

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