Liriano Takes His Bow

Francisco Liriano (0-0, 0.00) takes his 2013 opening lap against Jon Niese (2-3, 4.66) in a battle of lefties.  Historically, the years that Liriano has kept his walks in check are his big years, so we'll watch for that. The former AL'er did a good job with his control during rehab. Neise has had problems throwing strikes; he's walked 19 in 36+ innings. But he is 2-0 in three starts against the Pirates lifetime with a 1.93 ERA.The game starts at 1:10 at Citi Field and will be aired by Root Sports and The Fan 93.7.

Pirate lineup: Starling Mercer LF, Jordy Mercer 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Jose Tabata RF, Brandon Inge 3B, Mike McKenry C, Clint Barmes SS and Francisco Liriano P.

Lefty lineup, as it is. Pedro and GI are on the bench for Gaby and Inge while The Fort holds the fort until Martin's neck calms down.

Met lineup: Ruben Tejada SS, Daniel Murphy 2B, David Wright 3B, John Buck C, Justin Turner 1B, Marlon Byrd RF, Andrew Brown LF, Juan Lagares CF and Jon Niese P.

We'll see how the weather holds up. It's raining in NY, so there's a chance the game could be rescheduled, likely as a DH tomorrow.

• After last night's three-hit game, Starling Marte now has 15 multihit games this season to lead the NL.
• Russell Martin is expected to miss the Met series and return to action Monday in Pittsburgh. As a precaution, Tony Sanchez is in the clubhouse as a member of the new "taxi squad" allowed by the CBA, the same move they used with Josh Harrison recently.
• Duke Welker was returned to Indy to clear an active roster spot for Liriano.
• Beat guys Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune Review and Bill Brink of the Post Gazette report that Neil Walker will stay at Altoona through Sunday, so it looks like he'll be activated Monday for the series against the Brewers.
• Jeff Karstens expects to begin his rehab stint Monday.
• Joel Hanrahan's flexor tendon is torn off the bone. He'll have Dr. Andrews perform season-ending surgery to reattach it, and he may need full-blown TJ surgery after they see the damage on the table. Tough break for a good guy.