Francisco Liriano, Pirates enjoy dual rebirths

John Perrotto | Special for USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH – Francisco Liriano, a chronic underachiever in the mind of many baseball observers, can twice in one week make his personal renaissance mirror that of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The left-hander who generated virtually no interest on the free-agent market last winter has already ensured the Pirates' dream season - which produced their first playoff berth in 21 years - would continue.

Amid a backdrop of black T-shirts and an atmosphere that PNC Park had never seen, Liriano rose to the greatness demanded of him in Tuesday night's National League wild-card game.

His dominant performance against the Cincinnati Reds - one run and just four hits over seven innings - bought the Pirates a spot in the NL Division Series.

His work today - when he takes the ball in Game 3 against the St. Louis Cardinals (4:37 ET, TBS) - figures to tip the balance of this series.

It is an unlikely spot for a pitcher who one season ago posted a career-worst 5.34 earned-run average between Minnesota and the Chicago White Sox.

"I think everything happens for a reason," said Liriano. "Everything has been amazing for me."

That's far from hyperbole.

Liriano broke his non-throwing arm on Christmas Day while playing with his children, costing him some $11 million in guaranteed money from the Pirates.

The injury delayed his Pirates debut until May 11. Little has gone wrong since.

Liriano and PNC Park proved a fortuitous match. It has been a historically good yard for left-handed pitchers since it opened in 2001 because of the difficulties right-handers have hitting home runs with the left-center field gap stretching to 410 feet. Liriano has taken advantage: He was 8-1 with a 1.37 ERA in 11 starts during the regular season before his tour de force against the Reds.

Liriano's home ERA is the second-best by a Pirates pitcher since at least 1916, the first season in which records are available. Babe Adams went 9-4 with a 1.31 ERA in 14 starts in 1920 at Forbes Field.

"It's been a very, very good place for Frank to pitch just with the sequences of pitches, the ability to spin the ball, still ride the fastball, pitch the right-handers in the big part of the park, the left-center field notch out there," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "It's all worked out very well for him."

It almost didn't work out at all.

Despite his decline in recent years, Liriano was still just 29 and general manager Neal Huntington still believed Liriano could become a top-of-the-rotation starter. Blending both scouting reports and statistical information – particularly his 167 strikeouts in 156 1/3 innings in 2012 -- the Pirates made the decision to become the only team to offer the two-year contract Liriano desired.

"Our scouts thought the arm strength was there, the stuff was still there and he needed to refine some things and make some adjustments," Huntington said. "The numbers also showed that his performance was better than it might have looked on the surface."

The sides agreed to a two-year, $12.75-milllion contract, in mid-December pending a physical examination. Liriano was due to come to Pittsburgh on Dec. 26 for the physical.

Horseplay gone awry scuttled that plan.

"It was very disappointing," Liriano said. "I had my suitcase all packed and was excited to go to Pittsburgh. I didn't know what was going to happen after I got hurt."

A one-year contract with a vesting option was eventually worked out a few day before spring training that only guaranteed Liriano $1 million.

He earned an additional $2.875 million in bonuses for being on the active roster for 142 days, which also triggered the option that guarantees him an $8 million salary next season with the chance to the opportunity to earn an additional $150,000 in performance bonuses up to 200 innings

"Neal was very nice to me," Liriano said. "He stuck with me.

"I didn't think I was going to play this season, so I'm surprised by the year I have had. I just thank God for the Pirates to give me a chance to be able to pitch."

Liriano did his part in in his renaissance. He raised the arm angle on his pitches while pitching last winter in his native Dominican Republic and heeded Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage's advice to slow when he gets into jams rather than trying to overthrow.

It has all added up to Liriano winning more games than any other Pirates pitcher this season, making Huntington look awfully smart.

"Frankie was the guy Neal wanted right from the start last offseason," Hurdle said. "Neal was the one who pounded the table in all the meetings for him and he was right. Frankie has been terrific for us."

Today, opposed by Cardinals righty Joe Kelly, Liriano will again be backed by a most passionate throng of Pirates fans, their unlikely love affair perhaps adding another chapter.

"You have to give the man credit for the heart, the conviction, the intent that he put into everything," Hurdle said. "That is what really, I think, has given that degree of separation from what we might have thought we were going to get to what he has actually done and shown himself capable of."