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Adam Bittner: Sweep of Dodgers proves Pirates can’t leave postseason hopes to chance

Hailed as a potential postseason preview, the Pirates’ series with the Los Angeles Dodgers this past weekend at PNC Park ended up looking more like baseball variance at its wildest.

On Friday night, the highly anticipated pitchers’ duel between Gerrit Cole and reigning National League Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw never materialized. Both were just OK, leading to a back-and-forth affair that Pittsburgh claimed with a game-winning single from pinch hitter Pedro Alvarez in the 10th inning.

Saturday afternoon, noted hitting nihilist Francisco Liriano actually proved more useful with his bat than his arm, stroking his first career home run but giving up four runs in just three innings as the starter in a 6-5 win.