Geoff JohnsonThe third of three game mini series between the Oakland Athletics and the Pittsburgh Pirates will have Tommy Milone for the A’s and Francisco Liriano for the Pirates as pitchers; the match is this Wednesday at 7:05 PM ET at PNC Park.
The A’s are half of a game above the Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh are half of a game below the St. Louis Cardinals in their respective division; both teams could use a few wins before the all-start break.
On Monday, Oakland beat Pittsburgh 2-1 as Bartolo Colon recorded 12 wins this season, the most by an A’s pitcher before the break since Mark Mulder in 2004. Colon allowed one run in seven innings against the Pirates; it was his 11th straight start of at least six innings while allowing three or fewer runs.
Milone, on the other hand, was excellent on Friday night, earning a victory while allowing three earned runs over 8.1 innings against the Royals. He has an 8-7 record with an 4.11 ERA.
“The first eight innings were really good,” Milone said about the game against the Royals. “I wish I could go back and pitch the ninth inning over. But I felt in control all night. In the ninth, they had some good at-bats. I think it was more them than me. They did a good job putting the ball in play.”
Liriano has been outstanding this season with an 8-3 record and a 2.20 ERA.
The A’S are 10-0 all-time against Pittsburgh; they are the only team to remain perfect against another team in the majors.
