Pittsburgh 5 – Cincinnati 0
Charlie Morton (5-1) threw a complete game shutout and Andrew McCutchen (8), Pedro Alvarez (2) homered, leading the Pirates (19-23) to a 5-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds (25-18) on Wednesday night, snapping a six game losing streak.
Morton allowed 5 hits and struck out 5, while walking just two batters as the right hander stifled the Reds, earning his second complete game of the season. Morton improved to 5-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.62.
He had 15 ground outs and came into the game with a 77.4 percent ground ball/out rate.
Morton’s velocity wasn’t his best tonight but he was calm and collected and he’s come a long ways to fixing his command issues from earlier in the season.
Morton was a pitcher who controlled the game and for a Pirates team that desperately needed him to step up with the team in the midst of a rough stretch, Morton delivered which is what top of the rotation starters do.
In two starts against the Reds, Morton’s stat line is 18IP – 10H – 1 ER – 8SO – 4B. Tonight’s shutout was the second of Morton’s career. It was the third combined shutout by the Pirates this season.
A positive for the Pirates is that Pedro Alvarez (1-4, HR, 3 RBI’s, 1R) is starting to slowly break out of his slump and is 4-for-12 in his last 3 games.
Alvarez’s three-run homer in the 4th inning, snapped a streak of 15 games without driving in a run.