Charlie Morton’s rough first inning proved costly as David Price went 8 1/3 strong to defeat the Pirates 5-1 on Wednesday afternoon.
Morton didn’t have the most adequate start allowing three runs in the first. Desmond Jennings led off the game for the Rays with a single and quickly scored as Ben Zobrist followed with a RBI triple that was misplayed by Andrew McCutchen. Zobrist then scored on a fielding error by Jordy Mercer. The Rays got their third run of the inning off of a Kevin Kiermaier sac fly.
Morton shut things down from the second inning on recording 10 of his career-high 11 strikeouts from the second to the seventh innings while only allowing one hit.
Those three runs were all the Rays (32-48) needed though, as David Price was stellar in his outing allowing only two hits through the first six innings. The Pirates (39-39) did have a chance to get back into the game in the seventh. With two on and two out, Neil Walker sent a deep fly ball to center that appeared to be destined for extra bases, but Jennings was able to track the ball down at the wall with a lunging catch to end the threat and the inning.
Price pitched a scoreless eighth and was two outs away from the complete-game shutout when McCutchen homered to right field ending his outing.
Jason Grilli made his first relief appearance in five days in the eighth inning allowing two runs on four hits in 2/3 IP.
Final Score: Rays 5, Pirates 1.
Starters Lines
Morton (L, 4-9): 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K’s, 1 HBP. 106 Pitches (74 Strikes).
Price (W, 6-7): 8 1/3 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K’s, 1 HR. 120 Pitches (85 Strikes).
The Pirates finish their road trip 4-2 and will now begin a 10-game homestand starting tomorrow night.
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(Photo Credit: J. Meric/Getty Images)
