Liz gets another taste of victory

The previous time Radhames Liz won a game in the majors, Aubrey Huff and Ramon Hernandez were in the Baltimore Orioles lineup. The second-base umpire in that Sept. 14, 2008 game against Minnesota, Kerwin Danley, was behind the plate Thursday at PNC Park.

Six and a half years passed between Liz’s major league victories, but he recorded his first of the season Thursday with two relief innings against the Chicago Cubs.

“It just makes me feel more part of the team,” Liz said.

Liz replaced Jeff Locke in the sixth. He retired the side in order, striking out two. He allowed a single to Chris Denorfia in the seventh, but Chris Stewart threw him out trying to steal.

“For Radhames, that was what we needed, that was what he needed,” manager Clint Hurdle said.

The two innings helped a bullpen that worked hard in the four-game series against the Cubs and did not have Tony Watson or Jared Hughes available Thursday.

“I was trying to stay aggressive,” Liz said. “I’m not thinking the game was tied, things like that. I don’t want to put pressure on me. Just make good pitches and get out of there.”

Lambo encouraged

Despite entering the game without a hit, Andrew Lambo said the encouragement he received from clubhouse veterans helped him stick to his approach.

“You got guys like Corey Hart who are coming in saying … you’re having great at-bats, stick with it. That’s so much easier,” Lambo said. “You got a guy like Neil Walker saying dude, stick with it, it’s going to happen, it’s going to come, just keep with your approach. That’s awesome.”

Lambo almost broke his slump in his first atbat when he roped a Kyle Hendricks pitch to the warning track in left field, but Denorfia made a tough diving catch.

“I started laughing,” Lambo said.

He got his first hit of the season the second time around, when he hit an opposite-field double to the gap in left-center field.

“I’ve been having great at-bats,” he said. “I know I’ve been having great atbats, just not getting results. And that’s fine, because when you have a clubhouse like this that believes in you, knows you’re going to do the job, you go up there and you’re not thinking about anything.”

Melancon rebounds

Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth to save his third game of the season, two days after blowing a two-run lead.

“It’s a confidence builder,” Hurdle said. “I’m not sure how much he needs, but everybody can use some.”

Melancon’s cut fastball reached 90 mph once and sat between 87-89, but had good movement.

“Sometimes you’ve got to believe in things that you’ve seen in the past and just give another opportunity, and that’s what we wanted to do with Mark,” Hurdle said.