Francisco Liriano struck out 12 batters, Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte homered, and the Bucs got welcome contributions from some struggling players as they swept the Mets with an easy 9-1 victory Sunday.
Early on, it was hard to tell if the Pirates were getting the good Liriano or the inconsistent one. In the second inning, Liriano gave up an infield single to Daniel Murphy and then a double to John Mayberry, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Then, though, Liriano whiffed Anthony Recker and Darrell Ceciliani. Then the Bucs opted to pitch to Ruben Tejada even with pitcher Jon Niese on deck, even though Tejada had homered off lefty Antonio Bastardo yesterday.