COMMENTARY| Josh Harrison probably feels pretty good about himself right about now.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ lead-off hitter saved his team from becoming the third to be no-hit by Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander with a bloop-shot to shallow centerfield, ruining 8.1 innings of spectacular pitching.

Verlander settled for a 6-0 complete-game shutout instead. But it was arguably one of his finest outings.

The 2011 American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner used his deadly arsenal to trick Pirates hitters Friday night by mixing in 50 percent fastballs and 50 percent off-speed knee-benders.

Showered by applause and standing ovations, Verlander, who racked up 12 strikeouts in the win, left the field appreciative of Tigers fans’ devotion and support. There were 44,661 strong cheering him on to glory.

“It’s just amazing,” Verlander said during his televised post-game interview. “These fans have been unbelievable in supporting me, this team, this city. It’s really been special to be apart of this for seven years now. They’ve supported me through the good, the bad; it means a lot.”

Verlander says he knows when he’s on. And he felt that way Friday night.

“You get that spine-tingling (feeling) and an adrenaline rush,” he said, later referencing the energy from the crowd.

Fans have come to expect Verlander’s dominance. He flirted with no-hitters a handful of times in 2011 en route to posting a league-best 24-5 record. It seems that each time he takes the mound that there is a chance for history to be made.

Verlander (5-1) smiled when asked if he had anything special in store for fans this summer, replying “Who knows?… (you) never know… stay tuned.”

While Harrison broke up the party Friday night, his hit didn’t negate the fact the Verlander’s one-hitter was actually one of the best outings of his career. He threw 109 pitches, 76 of which were strikes (70 percent), and walked just two batters. He had full control the entire evening, rarely falling behind hitters, who appeared rubbery and off-balance.

Verlander’s first no-no was June 12, 2007, when he struck out 12 and walked four in a 4-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. He struck out former Brewers star Prince Fielder, who is now with Detroit, once. Verlander threw strikes on 73 of 112 pitches (65 percent strikes).

Verlander struck out just four and walked a hitter May 7, 2011 during a 9-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. He threw 108 pitches, 74 for strikes (68 percent).

Adam Biggers has followed Major League Baseball for over 20 years, specifically the Detroit Tigers. He can be found on Twitter @AdamBiggers81.

PITTSBURGH (AP) Pittsburgh Pirates outfield prospect Josh Bell underwent surgery on to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and will be out for several weeks.

The 19-year-old Bell was injured while running the bases in a game on Tuesday while playing for Single-A West Virginia. Bell was hitting .274 with one homer and 11 RBI in 15 games at the time of the injury.

The Pirates selected Bell with the 61st overall pick of the 2011 in the MLB draft and inked him to a $5 million signing bonus, enough to convince Bell to take a stab at baseball instead of playing college football at Texas.

Bell will undergo rehab in Bradenton, but is expected to return to West Virginia later this season.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Andrew McCutchen had three RBIs, Casey McGehee drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning single and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 5-4 on a chilly Tuesday night.

McGehee’s two-out single to right off Matt Belisle (1-1) scored pinch-runner Nate McLouth. Clint Barmes had led off the eighth with his second home run to tie the game at 4-4.

Carlos Gonzalez hit his second two-run homer of the game in the top of the eighth to give Colorado the short-lived lead.

Seven days after becoming the oldest pitcher to win a game in major-league history, 49-year-old Rockies starter Jamie Moyer was in line for another victory after allowing one run over six innings.

But the Colorado bullpen promptly blew two leads against a team that had scored only 30 runs in 15 games coming in — by far the fewest in the majors.

Gonzalez had three of the Rockies’ six hits. Barmes, a former Colorado player, had three hits for the Pirates, who have won four of six.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The Atlanta Braves will be hoping to win their sixth straight series after being swept by the New York Mets to open the season. The team has used stellar starting pitching and timely hitting to win 12 of their past 15 games. They hope to continue their recent success when the Pirates invade Turner Field in Atlanta. What are the pitching matchups for the weekend series?

Friday, April 27 – Tommy Hanson vs. A.J. Burnett

The Atlanta ace will take the hill for the Braves, as he will hope to improve on his 2-2 record. In 24 innings this season, he has allowed nine earned runs with 23 strikeouts and a 3.38 ERA. In his career against the Pirates, Hanson is 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA.

In his return to the National League, Burnett has made just one start, throwing seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts and just five base runners allowed. In 18 appearances against the Braves, he is 5-9 with a 3.74 ERA.

Saturday, April 28 – Randall Delgado vs. Erik Bedard

The Atlanta rookie has gotten off to a shaky start this season, but with the struggles of Jair Jurrjens, will remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future. He is 2-1 this season with a 5.74 ERA, recording 17 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings.

The veteran left hander has gone 0-4 this season, but deserves much more. Bedard has allowed two earned runs or less in all four starts, recording a 2.62 ERA. His offense has left him hanging, scoring a total of three runs in his starts. He will be making his third career start against the Braves and hopes to improve on his 0-1 mark against them.

Sunday, April 29 – Tim Hudson vs. Kevin Correja

Hudson will be making his first start of the 2012 season, as he has missed the opening month as he has been recovering from back surgery. Hudson has won 181 games in his career, including 85 in Atlanta. He is 5-5 in his career against the Pirates, recording a 2.85 ERA in 75 2/3 innings.

Correja is 1-0 this season in three starts, allowing just four earned runs in 18 innings. He has pitched well in his career against the Braves, appearing in nine games, including five starts. He is 2-1 with a 3.90 ERA and will need to have his best stuff with Hudson ready to make a major impact in his first appearance.

For access to Atlanta Braves season recaps from 1990-present, a look at trades that changed Braves history, or a look at the greatest award winners in team history, go here for easier access.

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Freddie Freeman 2012 MVP threat?

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Hobson Lopes has been a life-long Atlanta Braves fan, thanks to TBS, and can be followed on Twitter @HobsonLopes.

PITTSBURGH (AP) The Pittsburgh Pirates have waited patiently for nearly two years for third baseman Pedro Alvarez to showcase all the tools that made him the second overall pick of the 2008 draft.

Their patience might finally be paying off. Following a horrific start, Alvarez’s bat is showing signs of life. He hit homers in both games of a doubleheader split with Colorado on Wednesday to raise his batting average from an anemic .108 to .156.

Alvarez’s four homers this season lead the team, and all but one of his seven hits have knocked in a run. Perhaps just as impressive is the way he’s attacking left-handed pitchers.

Alvarez doubled off Colorado lefty Rex Brothers in the second game on Thursday and manager Clint Hurdle says Alvarez is slowly gaining confidence.

The Pirates open a three-game series in Atlanta on Friday.

PITTSBURGH — Pedro Alvarez hit his second home run of the day, Charlie Morton pitched seven solid innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 5-1 to split a doubleheader on Wednesday.

Colorado broke up James McDonald’s no-hit bid in the seventh inning of the opener on its way to a 2-1 win.

Alvarez helped Pittsburgh’s tepid offense tie a season high in runs in the second game, hitting a solo shot down the right-field line off Jhoulys Chacin (0-2) to cap a five-run fifth.

Morton (1-1) benefited from an offense that broke out of a season-long slump, at least for an inning.

Garrett Jones went 3 for 4 in the nightcap, including a two-run shot off Chacin as baseball’s lowest scoring offense gave its pitching staff some help.

Despite the outburst Pittsburgh set a major league record by playing its 18th straight game starting the season in which neither team scored more than five runs, surpassing the standard set by the 1943 Detroit Tigers.

The Pirates began the day dead last in the majors with 36 runs scored. They’ve managed to hang around thanks to a pitching staff second in the National League in ERA (2.72).

Pittsburgh wasted another outstanding effort in the opener. McDonald ended up with a no-decision after the Rockies scratched across two runs — on just three hits — to win.

Morton appeared in danger of the same fate. He cruised through the first five innings but the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when Pittsburgh got to Chacin.

Alex Presley doubled with one out and Nate McLouth send a fly ball to left that Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez lost in the late afternoon sun. Gonzalez stuck out his glove but the ball landed just in front of it for an RBI double.

Andrew McCutchen followed with an RBI single, just the second time all season the Pirates have had a two-run lead with their starting pitcher in the game.

It didn’t stay 2-0 for long. Jones hit his third home run and Alvarez — whose average jumped from .108 to .156 on the day — clanged Chacin’s offering off the pole in right for his fourth homer of the season.

Morton didn’t let the surprising cushion go to waste. Ramon Hernandez provided Colorado’s only run with a solo homer in the seventh. But other than that Morton was effective, striking out two, walking one on 100 pitches.

Lance Lynn allowed only an inside-the-park homer to Alex Presley in seven innings, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-1 victory the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Presley led off the bottom of the first with a drive off the top of the center field fence, the ball just eluding a leaping center fielder Skip Schumaker. It was just the Pirates’ second inside-the-parker at PNC Park since it opened in 2001.

Filling in nicely for injured ace Chris Carpenter, Lynn (3-0) gave up four hits. He walked one and struck out four. He has won each of his starts this season and compiled a 1.42 ERA while Carpenter has been on the disabled list with a nerve problem in his pitching shoulder. Lynn pitched primarily in relief last season as a rookie when St. Louis won the World Series.

Lynn also scored the go-ahead run on Carlos Beltran’s two-out single in the fifth inning off Charlie Morton (0-1).

Daniel Descalso homered for the NL Central-leading Cardinals, who won for the fifth time in six games.

Morton allowed two runs — one earned — and four hits in five innings with three walks and six strikeouts.

Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte, who notched his third save in three tries, each pitched a hitless inning to complete the four-hitter for St. Louis.

After St. Louis tied it in the second inning on Yadier Molina’s RBI double, Lynn led off the fifth with a single. He took second on Rafael Furcal’s groundout, advanced to third on Matt Holliday’s fielder’s choice and scored on Beltran’s line hit to right field.

Descalso homered — a liner into the right-field stands — in the eighth off Jared Hughes to start a two-run inning. Furcal added a run-scoring double.

St. Louis had tied the game in the second when Yadier Molina’s double down the left field line scored Beltran, who reached first on Morton’s fielding error.

Presley opened the scoring by scampering around the bases when his drive . Jack Wilson hit the Pirates’ only other inside-the-park home run at PNC Park on July 2, 2004, and last Pittsburgh player to hit one was Freddy Sanchez at Houston on July 21, 2008.

Schumaker was shaken up on the play and left the game. He had been activated from the disabled list prior to the game after missing the first 13 games because of a strained right oblique.

NOTES: Schumaker was activated and 1B Lance Berkman was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained left calf. Schumaker’s rehab assignment at Triple-A Memphis was cut short after four games because the Cardinals needed someone to fill in for CF Jon Jay, who sprained his right shoulder on Thursday and is day to day. Schumaker was 3 for 13 (.231) with two walks and two strikeouts at Memphis. . Pittsburgh RHP Jeff Karstens, who was removed from his start after one inning Tuesday and placed on the DL, will rest seven to 10 days before beginning a throwing program. The Pirates do not have a timetable for Karstens’ return. RHP Brad Lincoln is expected to start in Karstens’ place Monday night against Colorado. . Jake Westbrook (2-0, 0.64) will start for St. Louis against Kevin Correia (1-0, 1.50) on Saturday night. Westbrook is 0-3 with a 5.46 ERA in four career starts against the Pirates.

 

PITTSBURGH — Clint Hurdle likes one-run games. Good thing, because the Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t given their manager much choice.

Less than two weeks into the regular season, the Pirates have already played in eight games decided by the slimmest of margins. They’ve won four of them, including victories in Arizona on Tuesday and Wednesday that ended a rough nine-game West Coast trip on a high note.

“The beauty though of a one-run game is it really lays it out for the players about the execution level,” Hurdle said. “It heightens the focus for me and I think it’s good that we’re playing those games early. It shows what kind of club we are.”

What the Pirates are, it appears, is determined.

Pittsburgh (5-7) won three of its final four games during its swing through Los Angeles, San Francisco and Arizona despite an anemic offense that ranks last in the majors in batting average (.205) and runs (26).

Put another way, the Pirates scored four more times over 12 games than the Pittsburgh Penguins have scored in the first four games of their playoff series with Philadelphia.

Yet Pittsburgh returns to PNC Park on Friday for a weekend set with defending World Series champion St. Louis invigorated after winning a road series against the Diamondbacks for the first time since 2005.

“The last few days we’ve been doing a great job of pitching, playing defense and timely hitting,” third baseman Pedro Alvarez said. “It’s going to win us some ballgames. We’ve just got to keep the ball rolling as best we can.”

Getting the ball in play would help.

The Pirates have just six homers and have yet to score more than five runs in a game. Still, they’ve hung around behind stellar pitching despite starting the season without expected ace A.J. Burnett — who is recovering from a right orbital bone fracture — and having All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan limited by tightness in his hamstring.

The injuries have forced Hurdle to get creative. Journeyman reliever Juan Cruz earned the save in the two victories at Arizona and reliever Brad Lincoln picked up the victory on Wednesday less than 24 hours after being called up when starter Jeff Karstens went to the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his right (throwing) shoulder.

Lincoln didn’t sleep Tuesday night, instead packing his things at Triple A Indianapolis then boarding a cross-country flight that landed at 6:30 a.m. local time Wednesday. Barely eight hours later, he tossed three shutout innings in relief of starter James McDonald.

Chris Young is off to another strong start, and there’s good reason to believe he can keep it going against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Young has keyed the Arizona Diamondbacks’ best start in four years heading into the opener of a 10-game homestand Monday night against the Pirates.

Having a hot bat out of the gate is nothing new for Young. He hit .302 with three homers and 10 RBIs through the first 10 games of 2011, a year after batting .351 with three homers and 14 RBIs after nine games.

He’s hit safely in eight of nine this season, batting .364 with six walks, and the Diamondbacks have won all four times he’s homered. He has 11 RBIs and has stolen a base in each of the last two games.

Young homered and drove in three runs Sunday in a 5-2 win at Colorado. Arizona (6-3), off to its best start since opening 9-2 in 2008, salvaged the series finale after blowing leads in the first two games and losing each by one run.

“We’re happy to get out of here with a win,” manager Kirk Gibson told the Diamondbacks’ official website. “We could have won more than the one game but we didn’t.”

Gibson hopes his team keeps up its winning ways at home, having gone 26-4 there since Aug. 8 – including two NL division series victories against Milwaukee. Arizona’s homestand also includes four games against Atlanta and three with Philadelphia.

First up is a three-game set with the Pirates, who have been battered by Young. He’s hit .365 with five homers and 16 RBIs in his last 16 games against them, including 8 for 22 with two home runs last season.

His center field counterpart also is off to a good start – Andrew McCutchen is hitting .333 – but right fielder Jose Tabata is 4 for 30 and the Pirates are batting .188 as a team.

Pittsburgh (3-6) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-1 win in San Francisco on Sunday as Garrett Jones hit his first home run.

“We just wanted to win a game,” manager Clint Hurdle said after his team’s first victory away from home. “This just happened to come on the road.”

The Pirates are averaging 2.0 runs, a trend that already has plagued Erik Bedard (0-2, 2.25 ERA) entering his third start as a National Leaguer. The 10-year veteran left-hander lost the first two as Pittsburgh’s lineup totaled one run.

Bedard allowed three runs over 12 innings, striking out seven and walking two.

“He competes and he never gives in,” catcher Rod Barajas said. “He believes in himself and that makes it easier for me to call the game, because I know I can put down whatever signs and he’s comfortable throwing it.”

Bedard, 8-5 with a 1.86 ERA in 20 career starts versus NL clubs, did not get a decision in his only outing versus Arizona in 2007.

That’s also the only year in which Joe Saunders (0-0, 0.00) pitched against the Pirates heading into his start Monday.

Saunders threw seven scoreless innings in a 2-1 loss at San Diego on Wednesday, his season debut. The lack of offensive help should be familiar to the left-hander, who went 3-6 in 15 regular-season home starts last year while getting no more than two runs of support in 11 of them.

These teams split six games last season. The Pirates have lost 14 of 19 in Arizona, last winning a series there in 2005.

Miguel Montero, who has homered in his last two games, hit .389 against Pittsburgh in 2011.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates placed starting pitchers A.J. Burnett and Charlie Morton on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday on the eve of the team’s season opener against Philadelphia.

Burnett is dealing with a fractured right orbital bone suffered during a bunting drill. He had surgery on March 2 and was expected to miss two to three months but appears to be ahead of schedule. He is eligible to come off the DL on April 10 and manager Clint Hurdle said Wednesday that Burnett will start for the Class A Bradenton Marauders on Friday.

Morton is still recovering from offseason hip surgery. He is eligible to come off the DL on April 13.

The Pirates also placed reliever Chris Leroux on the 60-day DL with a strained right pectoral muscle suffered in an exhibition loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.