A 38-pitch second inning proved to be part of Charlie Morton’s undoing as the Pittsburgh Pirates fell 5-2 to the Cleveland Indians Friday night.
The loss snaps a seven game winning streak in Interleague play. Morton [6-2] lost his first home start of the season although he settled down after the second inning.
“I think overall my stuff was pretty good tonight it was just inconsistent,” Morton said. “The pitch I threw to [Brandon] Moss it was off the plate but he got extended, it stayed flat, belt high and there were times I got away with it but sometimes you pay for it.”
In the second inning David Murphy led off with a single and then former Pirate Brandon Moss hit a 93 mile-per-hour fastball into the left field seats for his 14th home run of the season. It also was his 12th homer on the road and third in the last 10 games. The top of the fourth inning also resulted in a run as Michael Bourn doubled in Moss who singled to start the frame.
Andrew McCutchen was responsible for both runs in the fourth inning with his 10th home run of the season. Neil Walker also scored on the play after recording a one-out single. The homer meant that in his seventh big league season, McCutchen has double digit home run totals in each.
A rain delay stopped play in the seventh inning with one out and Marte on first after a fielder’s choice. Crew chief and home plate umpire Mark Carlson called for the tarp with Pedro Alvarez stepping into the box. The delay lasted two hours and eight minutes. The inning concluded with a Gregory Polanco strikeout which stranded both runners.
Bourn picked up another two RBI off Arquimedes Caminero with a single. It was part of three consecutive Indians hits and four base runners in five batters. It was the first time Bourn had three RBI in a game since June 22, 2013. Caminero did not make it out of the inning and Jared Hughes recorded the final two outs.
Trevor Bauer [7-5] picked up the win throwing 6.1 innings and allowing two runs on three hits in 74 pitches before being removed due to a rain delay.
“It’s all about recognizing what he does after he does all that stuff [his delivery],” McCutchen said. “He throws different just like we all hit different but point of contact is just the same thing as release point. You’ve got to eliminate all of that stuff and find his release point and make an adjustment.”
Cody Allen picked up his 16th save of the season after pitching the ninth inning.
Each of the top three Pirates hitters in the batting order had one of the team’s three hits.
Saturday will see Jeff Locke [4-4 4.55 ERA] take on Cody Anderson [1-0 0.57 ERA]. Locke has a 5-1 record with a 2.84 ERA in Interleague starts while Anderson will make his third career start.
Photo courtesy: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
