Worth noting

By Tom Singer

August 25, 2013

• Of Pedro Alvarez's first 31 home runs, eight came on the first pitch -- and an equal number came with two strikes.

• Liriano (14-6) is the first Pittsburgh pitcher to earn a decision in each of his first 20 starts of the season since Nick Strincevich opened 1946 with a 21-decision streak.

• Sanchez had a little fun with Tim Lincecum before and after hitting his first career homer off the former two-time Cy Young Award winner in the fifth inning of Saturday night's game.

Sanchez's college coach -- Boston College's Steve Englert -- also coached Lincecum in the Cape Cod League. So after striking out in the second, Sanchez called out, "Hey, Coach E says, 'What's up?'"

"Lincecum started laughing," Sanchez related. "So next at-bat I hit the home run and when Lincecum comes up to bat, he's just staring at me, and I go, 'Yeah, I'm going to text Coach E!'"

Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog Change for a Nickel. He can also be found on Twitter @Tom_Singer.