Charlie Morton put together his strongest start since the 2nd of July, but the Pirate bullpen imploded allowing the Marlins to take the first game of the eight-game homestand 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Morton went seven strong innings after working out of two jams. With runners on first and second with one out in the second, Morton induced a fly out and a ground out to end the inning. He worked out of another jam in the fourth after the Marlins tied things at one. With runners on the corners, Morton induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
From there, Morton cruised through his final three innings of work allowing only two hits and a walk.
“My sinker was working pretty good tonight,” said Morton. “I got a lot of ground balls and I minimized damage. I had some really great plays behind me and Steward called a really good game.”
The bullpen was unable to hold Morton’s lead though, as the Marlins (55-57) took the lead in the eighth. After a one out walk by Jared Hughes, Casey McGehee hit a grounder towards third. Josh Harrison was unable to field the grounder cleanly allowing everyone to be safe.
Manager Clint Hurdle then went to Justin Wilson, who allowed a hit and two walks allowing the Marlins to take the lead. Hurdle then went to Jeanmar Gomez, who allowed three more runs to score blowing the game open.
“We just didn’t just meet the demands of the game in the eighth inning,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “There were walks involved. We made an error and we just didn’t get things done that we needed to get done with a one-run lead.”
The Pirates (59-53) scored on RBI singles by Jordy Mercer, Gregory Polanco and Chris Stewart.
Starters Lines
Morton (ND): 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K’s. 107 Pitches (61 Strikes).
Hand (ND): 6 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K’s. 83 Pitches (55 Strikes).
The Pirates will look to rebound tomorrow evening.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(LHP) Jeff Locke (PIT): 2-3, 3.77 ERA
(RHP) Tom Koehler (MIA): 7-8, 3.70 ERA
First pitch is set for 7:05.
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(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
