(Photo Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images )
PNC Park — Morton pitched seven innings of two-run ball and Andrew McCutchen led the offense with a homer in a Pirates 4 – 2 victory over the Marlins on Wednesday night.
Charlie Morton rebounded from his previous start where he allowed 10 hits and 5 runs by throwing seven innings of sit hit, two run ball. He only allowed more than one base runner to reach in one inning, the fourth, where the Marlins scored their only to runs. Giancarlo Stanton led the inning off with a single and moved to third on a Logan Morrison single. Donovon Solano would then single in Stanton and Adeiny Hechavarria would GIDP to score the other run and make it 2 – 0.
The double play would work wonders for Morton’s confidence as he retired the last 11 batters he faced before being removed for Tony Watson in the eighth. “I think that helped,” said manager, Clint Hurdle. “He’s capable of getting two outs with one pitch with someone on base better than anyone we have. He executed a good pitch, we finished the play in the middle, we get it over to first base and minimize the damage and we move on, so I do think that probably gave him a boost of confidence moving to the rest of the game.”
The Pirates would start their 27th comeback victory of the season in the bottom of the fourth when Andrew McCutchen sent a 3 – 1 fastball by Marlins starter, Tom Koehler into the right-centerfield stands to cut it to 2 – 1. Cutch’s parents were in attendance to see the homer as his mother sang tonight’s National Anthem. “Andrew’s in a very good place right now playing the game.” said Hurdle. “His game is important to us and it’s contagious.”
They would take the lead for good in the fifth on some “made for Hollywood” plays. With runners on first and second with one out, Koehler threw a wild pitch to Morton which advanced the runners. Since the bunt was now out-of-play, Morton punched a ball into right field for his fourth career RBI and a tie game at 2. That would bring up Starling Marte with runners on first and third. Koehler go up-and-in on Marte, who was trying the safety squeeze. Marte would barely avoid being hit in the face by pulling a move out of the Matrix while falling to the ground. He would then army crawl out of the way as Jordy Mercer slid into the plate giving the Pirates the lead.
The Bucs would tack on an insurance run in the eighth as Neil Walker led the inning off with a double. Cutch would then come up and hit a grounder to third which seemed to have hit a pebble and bounced high off of third basemen, Ed Lucas’s chest allowing him to reach safely. Walker would then score on a Pedro Alvarez sac fly to end the scoring.
Mark Melancon would come in and put an exclamation mark on the game with a strikeout of Morrison to end it.
Final Score: Pirates 4, Marlins 2
Starters Lines:
Morton (W, 4 – 3): 7 IN, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 K’s. 86 Pitches (59 Strikes)
Koehler (L, 3 – 7): 5 IN, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K’s, 1 HP, 2 WP, 1 HR. 90 Pitches (56 Strikes)
The Pirates will look for the sweep tomorrow afternoon at 12:35.
Tomorrow’s Starters:
(RHP) Gerrit Cole (PIT): 5 – 5, 3.69 ERA
(RHP) Jose Fernandez (MIA): 8 – 5, 2.54 ERA
Follow Travis for Pirates news and in-game updates on Twitter @TBerardi_OVA or @OVAthletics
