Francisco Liriano Shuts Down Cubs Again

Both Cubs and Pirates fans were subject to a bout of deja vu on Friday. Just a couple of weeks after Francisco Liriano pitched seven shut out innings of two hit ball in Pittsburgh, the Pirate lefty repeated his stellar performance at the Friendly Confines. Liriano went seven innings again without allowing the Cubs to dent the scoreboard while just allowing two knocks. Between the two starts the south paw also racked up 17 strike outs.

Jun 7, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano (47) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

In this game Liriano did give the Cubs a chance to put a foot in the door with five walks, but the Cubs could not solve Liriano and make him pay. As a result, Travis Wood was the tough luck loser yet again. The Cubs lefty made a valiant effort to match Liriano pitch for pitch, but the visiting Pirates finally tagged Wood with a run in the top of the sixth thanks to a pair of doubles.

Even Carlos Marmol had a two strikeout perfect frame to give the Cubs offense a chance, but the Pirates pen carried on the shut out bid for Liriano. The Bucs in black tallied an insurance run in the top of the ninth off of Carlos Villanueva and that was all she wrote.