CHRISTOPHER PANSINO – OVATHLETICS.COM
The Pirates started a two game series with the Phillies yesterday at Citizen Bank Park. The Phillies currently have the best record in the National League at 23-13 and are a baseball juggernaut in nearly every aspect of the game. Meanwhile the Pirates at 16-22 are coming off a late inning loss to the Cubs and have been hit or miss based on their starting pitching.
The Pirates got the game off with a bang as Delwyn Young hit a homerun over the right field wall to start the game. That, however, would be Young’s only hit of the game, as he went 1 for 4.
Hits would be scarce for the Pirates tonight. They would spread out five hits though the course of the game. Because of this the Pirates would score just one more run coming in the fifth inning off a well played offensive series that ended in Young scoring Ronny Cedeno on a sacrifice grounder to second.
Yet, despite the low run count in this game that is not the real story in the Pirates 12-2 lost last night.
The real story is that of Charlie Morton who continues to struggle in the starting roll. After tonight’s lost is 1-7, which is the worst record for a starter in the major league. Morton also holds the distinction for the worst ERA in the majors at 9.68.
The second worst ERA is that of Josh Beckett at 7.46. Beckett’s is more than two runs lower than that of Morton’s.
Morton would give up six earned runs on six hits in his four innings of pitching. Most grievous of his mistakes was in the third inning when he gave up five runs, including a three run homerun to Jayson Werth.
The bullpen faired no better in their four innings, giving up a combined seven hits and six runs. Jack Taschner gave up grand slam in the eight innings that put a cherry on yet another blowout loss. The bullpen, however, gets pass on this one, as they have been mostly reliable even in blow out games.
The Pirates have dropped six straight and 11 of 12 against the Phillies in Citizen Bank Park. The two teams will finish their shorten series Tuesday evening.
