Charlie Morton received an extra day of rest since his previous start and it seemed to pay off as the righty pitched seven strong innings as the Pirates got the series-opening victory over the Cubs 6-2.
Morton allowed one run on six hits — two of which didn’t go past the pitchers mound– over his seven innings of work while striking out seven. The only Cubs run came in the sixth when Anthony Rizzo singled off of the glove of a diving Jordy Mercer with two out. Starlin Castro followed with a RBI double off of the Clemente wall. The throw might have beaten Rizzo to the plate had it not been for a Josh Harrison bobble of the ball on the relay.
Morton also struck out seven on the night against the lefty-filled Cubs lineup. A number that is rather high for the groundball pitcher.
“I pitch lefties a little bit differently,” said Morton. “A little less to contact to leftys because they’ve hurt me more in the past and my sinker isn’t necessarily a quick out to a lefty, so I have to pitch them a little bit different so, I struck out a few leftys and that’s kind of my approach against them.”
The lone run off of Morton wouldn’t matter however, as Andrew McCutchen led a Pirates attack that placed a six-spot on Cubs pitching. McCutchen went 2-for-4 on the night with a two-run home run over the Clemente wall in the third and a RBI double off of the Clemente wall in the fifth. It’s a night that just add’s to McCutchen’s power-filled week.
“It’s just getting yourself in the position to be able to hit,” said McCutchen. “I made a little minor adjustment and I’m seeing the ball a little longer an I’m being able to get the barrel to it and when you get the barrel to it, good things happen, so that’s basically what I’m doing.”
Starling Marte appeared to have started out of his slump going 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and a stolen base while Travis Snider did the same going 2-for-3 with a walk, double and two runs scored. Ike Davis added insurance in the eighth with a solo home run to the bushes and Pedro Alvarez rounded out the offensive attack going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
Final Score: Pirates (30-33) 6, Cubs (25-36) 2.
BREAKING: Neil Walker was scratched from the lineup tonight with “abdominal pain” and later had an appendectomy . He has been placed on the 15-day DL. Gregory Polanco will be called up from AAA Indianapolis and will replace him on the roster.
Starters Lines
Morton (W, 3-7): 7 IN, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 7 K’s. 82 Pitches (59 Strikes).
Jackson (L, 4-6): 6 IN, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K’s, 1 HR. 95 Pitches (65 Strikes).
These two will be back at it for the second game of the four-game set tomorrow evening.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(LHP) Francisco Liriano (PIT): 1-6, 4.54 ERA
(LHP) Travis Wood (CHC): 5-5, 5.04 ERA
First pitch is set for 7:05.
(Photo Credit: Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
