Morning Pirates Buzz: Charlie Morton giving Pirates a 4th starter who could throw a gem on any given start

Photo: David Hague

With Charlie Morton he’s one of those pitchers who you know immediately whether it’s going to be a great or bad outing. It was clear from the start Wednesday night that it was going to be a good night for Morton who had his A+ stuff working.

Morton over-matched the Brewers with a terrific outing in throwing 7 1/3 shutout innings as he played the role of stopper in the Pirates 2-0 win.

Brewer players afterwards marveled at Morton’s sinker.

“A very effective and great body of work,” Clint Hurdle said of Morton’s gem vs the Brewers. “He had a sinker working. He was ahead of counts. The curve ball played well…..Really strong outing.”

Coming off labral surgery, the Pirates could not have expected a better start to the season for Morton who came in as a pricey question mark. With the way Morton is going right now, the Pirates have four pitchers who could throw a gem on any given night and they will just continue to wish for the best when Jeff Locke is on the mound.

Closer Mark Melancon threw a perfect ninth, needing just seven pitches to get his 19th save of the season. The velocity has ticked back up to near 91, a very promising sign and Melancon has thrown 13 1/3 straight scoreless innings. The last time he allowed an earned run was on May 11th.

Jung Ho Kang who had seen his average drop from .316 to .266 in a matter of 10 games, led the Pirates with three hits in the victory, going 3-4, all singles.

It was Kang’s fourth three-hit game of the season.