Tight left groin ends Liriano's night

Francisco Liriano, tabbed the Pirates' Opening Day starter, left Thursday night's start with tightness in his left groin.
But the lefty said he doesn't think it's serious.
"I didn't want to push it and have it get worse," Liriano said. "They'll check it out and we'll see how it feels tomorrow, and we'll go from there. It's not that bad."
Liriano allowed no runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out four. He said he felt the tightness all game, though it didn't get worse as the night progressed.
 "I didn't want to keep pitching with it, and I don't think we need to in spring training," said Liriano, a 16-game winner last year. "I just want to make sure I'm ready for Opening Day."
Pirates catcher Russell Martin noticed something different about Liriano in the sixth and alerted the Pirates dugout.
"He had been spot-on for the whole game, and the last few pitches weren't coming out like they had been coming out the whole game," Martin said. "That was all I recognized. I didn't see him jump out or anything like that...I asked him if he was OK, and he's not going to tell me (if he's hurt). So I was like, 'I'm not taking the chance - I'm calling the trainer out there.'"