Charlie Morton’s up and down Spring Training continued with an 8-3 victory over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays Saturday at McKechnie Field.
Morton [1-1] saw his ERA fall from 7.71 to 6.46 this spring after pitching six innings and allowing three runs. Morton also surrendered six hits and walked two batters.
Morton’s three runs came on a first inning Daric Barton home run, a second inning Munenori Kawasaki double and a fourth inning Danny Valencia homer.
“I thought he showed progress as the game went on,” manager Clint Hurdle said to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He maintained focus and stayed aggressive. Even if you’re a groundball pitcher, (the wind) will ride a couple of balls out of the park. He didn’t let that affect him.”
Gregory Polanco gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead connecting on a 1-0 Randy Wolf offered and sending it over the right field wall. It is Polanco’s second consecutive game with a homer.
“I felt well-rested, but my timing wasn’t there at the beginning of spring training,” said Polanco to Biertempfel. “I’ve been working with the machine, off the tee, with soft toss, with pitchers. Now I feel good. I found my timing.”
The Pirates scored single runs in the second and third innings with a Sean Rodriguez RBI ground out and a Corey Hart sacrifice fly.
A four-run sixth inning from the Pirates ended the scoring. Reese McGuire got an RBI double and Neil Walker did the same clearing the bases.
Mark Melancon and Jared Hughes each registered a shutout inning and Rob Scahill as well as Arquimedes Caminero each combined to shut the door in the ninth inning.
Notebook: The Pirates fans showed up in record numbers setting a Spring Training high of 99,450 fans that have attended the team’s first 14 home games. The Pirates also set a single game spring attendance record of 9,018 in the March 18 night game against the Detroit Tigers.
“Our fans have shown a wonderful commitment to this team from day one of Spring Training,” Pirates President Frank Coonelly said in a press release. “We have made the fan experience in Bradenton a high priority, and our fans have responded repeatedly by coming out in record numbers.”
Andrew McCutchen and Francisco Cervelli led the team with two hits in this game. The Pirates will start Stolmy Pimentel Sunday against the Atlanta Braves against Shelby Miller.
