A.J. Burnett is showing that he is not a one-hit wonder by having another solid year pitching for the Pirates in their rotation. He leads the club in strikeouts with 160 on the season in 145.2 innings pitched, with a WHIP of 1.22 and a 3.09 ERA. He has allowed nine Home Runs with him walking 53 batters. Burnett has a strikeout per nine of 9.9 and is holding opponents to a batting average of .231. He has been very tough on right-handers by holding them to an average of .203 in 286 at-bats. The right-hander is just as good with runners in scoring position, as indicated by teams just hitting .188 in this situation. When there are two outs and runners in scoring position, he limits teams to a .197 average.

By Chris Lacey (Lead Baseball Columnist/Minority Website Owner) Follow @aecanada12

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There have been plenty of story lines this season in baseball, and one them is could the Pittsburgh Pirates finally end their drought of losing seasons. For those that don’t know the Pirates have not had a winning baseball season since 1992.

This is a long time to go without having a winning season and the fans in Pittsburgh have been waiting some time to see a good baseball club. 

The Pirates have a great fan base and also they have one of the most beautiful ballparks in all of baseball. PNC Park has a great skyline that shows off the city and the three yellow bridges.

Pittsburgh Pirates 2013 First Half Highlights  Parental Guidance Is Advised

McCutchen is having a solid year for the Pirates, and is a potential MVP candidate for the team. Cutch has 17 HRs and 71 RBIs while having a .316 average and a .901 OPS in 462 at-bats. He has also stolen 26 base this season. He crushes left-handed pitchers with a .363 average against them and has a .289 average with runners in scoring position.

So with this in mind, it’s great to see the team playing great in 2013 and having a chance of making the postseason.

The Pirates lead the National League Central division by one game over the St. Louis Cardinals and it will be a battle the rest of the season for them to continue leading the division.

One of the main reasons that Pittsburgh has been a success this season has to do with their pitching. They are tied for first with the Atlanta Braves in the NL by having an ERA of 3.19 from their entire pitching staff.

The starting rotation has been the real surprise, as they are 4^th in the NL with a 3.43 ERA. They have a rookie starting pitcher in Gerrit Cole doing a tremendous job and helping the club out by pitching quality innings for them.

There is also Jeff Locke, who is one of the surprises in the rotation with him winning nine games for the Pirates and limiting teams to a .233 batting average on the season.

There are two other pitchers in the rotation that are shining stars and could be called aces with their performance this season. They are A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano, as both of these pitchers are anchoring the rotation.

Burnett has turned his career around dramatically, after struggling to pitch with any consistency in a New York Yankees uniform. He has found a new home with the Pirates, and they are happy with the results he has produced in his second season with the team.

He leads the team in strikeouts at 160 with a 3.09 ERA in 145.2 innings pitched to include a WHIP of 1.22. He has also just walked 52 batters, while giving up only eight Home Runs and has a strikeout per nine innings of 9.9.

The right hander is holding teams to a .235 batting average, with right-handed batters just managing to hit .203 against him. He is superb when the pressure on, with teams hitting .188 with runners in scoring position.

He is still great with two outs and runners in scoring position with teams only hitting .197 in this situation over 71 at-bats on the season. He provided great stability at the top of the rotation for Pittsburgh.

They will lean heavily on him in the final months of the season to duplicate what he did in the earlier part of this season.

The other part of the two-headed monster at the top of their rotation is Liriano. He is turning into the biggest bargain in baseball this season with the Pirates just paying him a salary of $1 Million.

This was low-risk, high-reward scenario for the Pirates, as they had nothing to lose and everything to gain if he pitched well for the team this season.

He has pitched great for them, and while Burnett was on the disabled list, he was the leader in the rotation for them. Liriano leads the staff in wins with 14 on the season and has a 2.53 ERA in 121 innings pitched.

He has only allowed five homers on the season while walking 47 batters and striking out 126 batters. He has a WHIP of 1.18 and has a strikeout per nine of 9.4 on the season.

The left-hander is holding teams to a .216 batting average, and is holding left-handed batters to a .137 average. He pitches his best at home with a 1.39 ERA, while having a 3.38 ERA on the road.

He is holding teams to a .247 average with runners in scoring position, and the opposition is only hitting .244 with two outs and runners in scoring position.

There must be something in the water in Pittsburgh with both of these pitchers reviving their careers in the steel city.

The Pirates will need both of these pitchers to remain healthy to ensure they can end their drought of losing seasons and hopefully make the postseason.

Liriano has been both a great surprise and a welcome addition to the staff for Pittsburgh. He has regained what made him a good pitcher for Minnesota Twins season ago. The Pirates signed him to a bargain deal during the off season, and it paying huge dividends in the season. He leads the rotation in wins with 14 while throwing 121 innings and has only allowed five Home Runs so far during the season. He has struck out 126 batters with having a WHIP of 1.18 and this includes a strikeout per nine of 9.4. The southpaw is limiting batters to a .216 batting average, with left-handed batters just managing a .137 average. He is holding teams to a .247 batting average with runners in scoring position.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views      of mlbreports.com or their partners.***

A big thank-you goes out to our ”Lead Baseball Columnist and Minority Website Owner” Chris Lacey. Chris has been a fan of watching baseball since the age of 13. Now he does like all sports – but his favorites after baseball are hockey and basketball. 

Chris is very good with computers and is a college graduate.  

Chris is very active on Twitter and especially during the baseball season chatting with other Diamondbacks fans. Be sure to follow him and talk about the great game of baseball. Chris is addicted to writing baseball. 

Check out his work for rantsports.com here, for baseballhotcorner.com here, for venom strikes here and if you can believe it – fanrag.com here

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