Clint Hurdle has preached to his team the virtues of taking the season one game at a time, one inning at a time and one batter at a time – especially with the Pittsburgh Pirates falling out of first place in the National League Central on Monday.
Yet the Pirates manager has allowed himself to look ahead to October and the possibility of his team reaching the postseason for the first time since 1992.
Hurdle said that if the Pirates clinch early enough to set up their rotation for the playoffs, he would have left-hander Francisco Liriano pitch the first game, followed by right-hander A.J. Burnett. Liriano is 14-6 with a 2.74 ERA in 20 starts. Burnett is 6-9 with a 3.18 ERA in 24 starts.
“When they are on their game, they can be a force,” Hurdle said. “And they can beat a good team.”
The Pirates have put themselves in position to reach the playoffs. With five weeks remaining in the regular season, they entered Monday a half-game behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League Central lead but still held a comfortable six-game advantage over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second wild card spot.
Starting off the postseason with Liriano and Burnett would also keep the veterans on their regular turn in the rotation.
Liriano and Burnett pitched back to back over the weekend at San Francisco, and they lost 6-3 and 4-0, respectively. Of the nine times the duo has pitched consecutively this season, the Pirates have won both games on four occasions, lost both games three times and split twice.
“I just like the way we’re going about our business, throwing our best two guys back to back,” Hurdle said. “We’re trying to get something done.”