WASHINGTON — The All-Star break is an opportunity for players and coaches to unwind, relax and unplug their minds and bodies from the daily grind of baseball. It can also be a chance for some self-reflection, and Francisco Liriano was able to make a change in mindset that propelled him to his first quality start since May 18 in the Pirates’ 5-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.
Liriano has been dealing with a few recurring issues that have conspired to keep his first-half ERA on the wrong side of five and his confidence as low as it’s been with the Pirates.
One of the biggest things that has been troubling him is that opponents simply aren’t swinging and missing as much as they used to. His strikeout rate is down to 20.5 percent — his lowest since 2011 with the Minnesota Twins.
Of course, there is more than one way to get outs. If he’s not going to get swings and misses, ground balls are the next best thing.
“I’m just focused on throwing strikes right now,” he said. “I think I brought the heater whether they put the ball in play or not. I’m making sure I’m executing pitches and throwing everything down in the zone. I’ve been too picky with the plate. I’m not trying to be too fine on the corners. … Let them hit a ball and put it in play. I have to trust my guys behind me. That’s the mentality I have right now.”
As a result, Liriano got the Nationals to hit 14 ground balls as opposed to three fly balls, and some quick outs allowed him to pitch into the seventh inning for the first time in nearly two months.
Two things held Liriano’s quality start from being an even more impressive outing — some well-placed soft hits by the Nationals hitters and four walks — three of which came in his last two innings.
“[With] the problematic walks late, he had the one guy punched out in our mind,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “However, the body of work — he threw 18 out of 26 first-pitch strikes, which set up everything else throughout the game.”
Strike zone data seemed to indicate that Liriano’s walks of Michael Taylor in the fourth inning and Anthony Rendon in the sixth inning both should have been strikeouts.
“I think it was close,” Liriano said of the last pitch to Rendon. “I think I got it where I wanted it. It’s part of the game, they make mistakes and stuff like that. I think it was a good pitch.”
None of the first three walks came back to haunt Liriano, but the fourth one did. Danny Espinosa led off the seventh with a free pass and came into score two batters later.
“I was just missing my spots the last couple batters and getting behind in the count,” Liriano explained. “They have some good hitters. You have to make sure you hit your spot and make some good pitches. I didn’t want to throw a cookie right there late in the game.”
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
Liriano started the seventh inning having already thrown 91 pitches, and Hurdle admitted that it was a big decision to leave him in the game.
“We’ve been waiting for an opportunity to push him back out there for the seventh in a tie ballgame and we got it,” Hurdle said. “He just got the best hitter on the team out to finish the sixth. Like I said, we’ve been looking for an opportunity. I guess it depends on what you’re looking for out of Francisco. Are you looking for the air brakes to slow him down, or are you looking to give to him an opportunity to gain some more confidence and go out there? I was pushing the button to give him more confidence to go out there and attack.”
After walking Espinosa, Liriano induced a ground ball off the bat of Clint Robinson, but it found a spot in the infield without a Pirates fielder, and Liriano’s night was finished.
“The ground ball to get out of it, we could have turned two,” Hurdle said. “That’s how close games can be sometimes.”
NO RELIEF
Neftali Feliz came in and didn’t help the situation much. He misplayed Stephen Strasburg’s sacrifice bunt by failing to hold Espinosa on third base.
“An arm fake or a throw to third base, and we have the guy hung out. He’s halfway down the line,” Hurdle said. “Good, aggressive play by their runner. We gave him too much yardage on the play to not stop him and get him moving back before throwing to first base.”
Hurdle added that most relief pitchers don’t have a lot of experience with that type of play.
“They don’t get a lot of repetition, but it’s something you need to be aware of. You talk about it, we remind him of it. He’s probably made those plays. It’s the first time he’s probably been in that situation all year. However, it comes back to game awareness and knowing where the runner is. He obviously bit off a large chunk of real estate. … We needed to handle it better.”
STILL PERFECT
Josh Bell walked in his one plate appearance, pinch-hitting in the eighth inning. He still has a perfect 1.000 OBP.
“I was just happy to put together a good at-bat right there,” Bell said. “With [Strasburg] coming at 100-plus pitches, I wanted to capitalize by not swinging at balls out of the zone.”
With Gerrit Cole needing a roster spot to come off the disabled list, Bell could be headed back to Triple-A as soon as Saturday. If he does indeed go down, he said he’s had an invaluable experience.
“It puts that light at the end of the tunnel there. Now I officially know what it is I’m working for. You hear the stories of how great it is, and it’s that and then some.”
NOTES
Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen both stole a base, the first two off Strasburg all season. … John Jaso did not play. No word on his health or availability. … Arquimedes Caminero and Jared Hughes combined to pitch 1.2 scoreless innings.
