SAN FRANCISCO -- The left-hander for whom the Pirates have been yearning for a long time showed up on the AT&T Park mound Tuesday night.Jon Lester? David Price? Cole Hamels, or any of the other southpaws spinning on the Trade Deadline roulette wheel?Not yet. Or not ever. Instead, Francisco Liriano, in his best impersonation of his 2013 self, strong-armed the Giants for seven innings for a 3-1 victory. 
The Bucs' eighth win in 11 games coming out of the All-Star break -- matching their best second-half start since 2004 (also 8-3) -- moved them to a season-high eight games above .500. The Pirates also inched within one game of the National League Central lead.Liriano registered 11 strikeouts while allowing four hits -- including a briefly disputed second-inning home run by Michael Morse.Josh Harrison, going yard for the third consecutive game, began with his first career leadoff homer, and Travis Snider followed in the second with a two-run blow. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle couldn't decide which hot hitter to bench -- Harrison had six hits in his previous nine at-bats, Snider five hits in his last eight -- so he kept both in his lineup, instead sitting Pedro Alvarez.That hunch turned out nicely. Most significantly, Harrison's first-inning homer set up the Pirates' 17th consecutive victory when scoring in the opening frame.This matches the second-longest such streak in club history, also accomplished in 1903, 1905 and 1928. Only a 28-game streak in 1909 has been longer.Then, for the second straight night, the Pirates shut it down after having scored in each of the first two innings. Or were shut down, by Tim Hudson, who after that shaky outset scattered two hits in the rest of his seven-inning stint.That came too late to avoid his second tough-luck loss to the Bucs.Hudson was a 2-1 loser in Pittsburgh on May 6 -- a historic game, the first "replay walk-off," as a video review confirmed that Starling Marte indeed had scored the winning run after the relay throw on his two-out triple had gone wild.The home run by Morse was the first off Pittsburgh pitching here in eight games and 62 innings -- since Aubrey Huff went yard off Joel Hanrahan in the eighth inning on April 13, 2012 (a Friday, naturally).Hurdle challenged the home run call, but replay review confirmed the ball had reached the first row of the left-center stands without any interference by the fan who retrieved it.Tom Singer / MLB.com
The Bucs' eighth win in 11 games coming out of the All-Star break -- matching their best second-half start since 2004 (also 8-3) -- moved them to a season-high eight games above .500. The Pirates also inched within one game of the National League Central lead.Liriano registered 11 strikeouts while allowing four hits -- including a briefly disputed second-inning home run by Michael Morse.Josh Harrison, going yard for the third consecutive game, began with his first career leadoff homer, and Travis Snider followed in the second with a two-run blow. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle couldn't decide which hot hitter to bench -- Harrison had six hits in his previous nine at-bats, Snider five hits in his last eight -- so he kept both in his lineup, instead sitting Pedro Alvarez.That hunch turned out nicely. Most significantly, Harrison's first-inning homer set up the Pirates' 17th consecutive victory when scoring in the opening frame.This matches the second-longest such streak in club history, also accomplished in 1903, 1905 and 1928. Only a 28-game streak in 1909 has been longer.Then, for the second straight night, the Pirates shut it down after having scored in each of the first two innings. Or were shut down, by Tim Hudson, who after that shaky outset scattered two hits in the rest of his seven-inning stint.That came too late to avoid his second tough-luck loss to the Bucs.Hudson was a 2-1 loser in Pittsburgh on May 6 -- a historic game, the first "replay walk-off," as a video review confirmed that Starling Marte indeed had scored the winning run after the relay throw on his two-out triple had gone wild.The home run by Morse was the first off Pittsburgh pitching here in eight games and 62 innings -- since Aubrey Huff went yard off Joel Hanrahan in the eighth inning on April 13, 2012 (a Friday, naturally).Hurdle challenged the home run call, but replay review confirmed the ball had reached the first row of the left-center stands without any interference by the fan who retrieved it.Tom Singer / MLB.com
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