Results tagged ‘ charlie morton ’
Morton struggles, Bucs shutout 6-0 again
The Florida Marlins shutout the Pirates, 6-0 for the second straight night at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Fla. On Wednesday. It marked the first time this season the Pirates have lost two in a row on the road.
The Bucs combined for just five hits and have not scored in 18 innings.
Manager Clint Hurdle told David Villavicencio of MLB.com, “You’ve got to do things to put yourself in a position to have success. We haven’t scored a run in 18 innings, and they’ve gotten on top of us early in both games.”
Coming off a compete game five hitter against the Cincinnati Reds, Right-hander Charlie Morton struggled over five innings of work (91 pitches). He allowed six runs on 10 hits with three walks and six strikeouts.
With two outs in the 2nd inning, Morton allowed back-to-back singles to John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio and a four pitch walk to pitcher Ricky Nolasco to load the bases.
Chris Coghlan hit a slow grounder to second baseman Neil Walker but double-clutched, not knowing who was covering the bag. By the time he threw to first, Coghlan was safe and two-runs scored.
Neil Walker told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune, “It was a mayhem-type play. It’s a shame because it was not hard-hit. Just some miscommunication. I should’ve just thrown the ball and assumed someone was going to catch it.”
Hurdle told David Villavicencio of MLB.com, “That put us in a bad situation, and the play that followed is the one that got us. That really dug the hole deeper.”
Jose Tabata, who was playing in center field in place of Andrew McCutchen, booted the ball hit by Omar Infante, allowing Nolasco to score.
Hanley Ramirez singled to right field to tack on another run and take a 4-0 lead.
Things didn’t get better for Morton in the 3rd inning. With Gregg Dobbs and Mike Stanton (who drew a walk) on second and third, Bonifacio hit a RBI single. Coghlan singled to right, giving the Marlins a 6-0 lead.
Morton told David Villavicencio of MLB.com, “They were just hitting my sinker. It wasn’t sinking. It wasn’t as effective as it has been and I didn’t make the adjustment. Instead of maybe mixing it up more I tried to force the issue and just throw sinkers.”
Nolasco held the Pirates to just four hits –the lone extra-base hit coming off the bat of pitcher Charlie Morton– over seven innings with one walk and eight strikeouts.
The Pirates were shutout, 6-0, for the second straight game. It also marked the first time this season the Bucs lost back-to-back games on the road.
The Pirates have struck out 22 times in the past 18 innings and have not scored a run over that span.
Pre-game News and Notes: Pirates @ Marlins 4/21
The Pittsburgh Pirates (8-10) will face the Florida Marlins (10-6) for the second of a three game series at 7:10 PM/ET at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Fla.
Right-hander Charlie Morton (2-0, 1.64 ERA) gets the nod for the Bucs against righty Ricky Nolasco (1-0, 4.05 ERA).
Morton was dominant against in his last start. He threw a complete game –the second of his career– and picked up his second win on the season. Morton limited the Reds to just five hits over the nine innings of work. Of Morton’s 110 pitches, 81 were for strikes.
Nolasco received a no-decision during his last outing against the Braves. He allowed five runs over five innings of work.
News and Notes:
- Andrew McCutchen is not in the lineup today due to personal matter. Jose Tabata will play in center field with Matt Diaz moving to left.
- Manager Clint Hurdle told David Villavicencio of MLB.com, “Andrew went home today to deal with a personal matter, and that’s really all we’re going to share right now. We’re respecting his privacy, and I’ll let you know more when I can tell you more.”
- The Pirates outrighted Garrett Olson to Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday. The lefty allowing one run over 4 1/3 innings this season with the Bucs.
- The Pirates signed right-handers Blaine Boyer and Brett Sinkbeil to minor league contracts today.
Boyer appeared in five games with the New York Mets this season. The 29-year-old had a 10.80 ERA over 6 2/3 innings before being designated for assignment.
Sinkbeil was released by the Marlins in spring training.
Pirates:
Jose Tabata CF, Matt Diaz LF, Lyle Overbay 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Garrett Jones RF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Chris Snyder C, Ronny Cedeno SS, Charlie Morton RHP
Marlins:
Chris Coghlan CF, Omar Infante 2B, Hanley Ramirez SS, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Greg Dobbs LF, Mike Stanton RF, John Buck C, Emilio Bonifacio 3B, Ricky Nolasco RHP
Johnson, Marlins shutout Pirates, 6-0
A great pitching performance by the Florida Marlins right-hander Josh Johnson limited the Bucs to just two hits over seven innings in the Pirates 6-0 loss at Sun Life Stadium on Tuesday.
Johnson, who had a no-hitter going against the Atlanta Braves through 7.1 inning during his last start, blanked the Pirates over seven shutout innings (98 pitches). The two lone hits came from Garrett Jones, a single to right in the 5th and John Bowker, a pinch hit single in the 6th inning.
The 27-year-old walked one and struck out nine.
Manager Clint Hurdle told Root Sports, “The fastball’s top shelf. If you want to start a franchise and pick a pitcher, you’re not going to go wrong picking him. When you can go high-90′s, down hill plane with a good finish, a combination of the slider. He threw a handful of curves, not many but that’s a pitch he’s working on –like he needs another one. The cutter and the changeup is just nasty…He shut down four teams to start with and unfortunately we were one of them. He’s good. He’s a legit ace.”
The Marlins bullpen, which consisted of lefty Michael Dunn and right-hander Brian Sanches in relief didn’t allow a hit or run over two innings of work, with three strikeouts.
Paul Maholm retired the first five batters he faced, but from there, Maholm just wasn’t sharp. After hitting Mike Stanton with a pitch, he allowed back-to-back singles to load the bases with two outs. Johnson hit a two-RBI single to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead.
Stanton leadoff the fourth when a double to left field that hit off the wall. John Buck followed with a RBI double to right. Emilio Bonifacio singled and Chris Coghlan walked to load the bases. Maholm walked in a run after throwing a five pitch walk to Hanley Ramirez.
Maholm was pulled with the bases loaded and two outs in the 4th. Rookie Mike Crotta allowed a two-run single by Gaby Sanchez to give the Marlins a 6-0 lead.
Maholm was charged with six runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts (76 pitches) over 3.2 innings –his shortest outing this season and the shortest since September 15, 2010 against the New York Mets. His ERA jumped from 2.33 to 4.30 and he picked up his third loss of the year.
Maholm told Root Sports, “There’s a lot of different things. First inning was great and then, I just kind of fell out of rhythm, left pitches over the plate. If you don’t get ahead of some of those guys, they’re aggressive. They’re good hitters. It just comes down to me not pitching well.”
“It sucks. I didn’t give the team a chance at all to win. Facing Johnson, you got to be good and I wasn’t.”
The Pirates (8-9) will face the Marlins (9-6) for the second of a three game series tomorrow at 7:10 PM ET. Right-hander Charlie Morton will be on the mound for the Bucs against righty Ricky Nolasco.
Pre-game News and Notes: Pirates @ Marlins 4/19
The Pittsburgh Pirates (8-8) will open up a three-game series against the Florida Marlins (8-6) tonight at7:05 PM ET in Miami, Fla.
Left-hander Paul Maholm (0-2, 2.33 ERA) will face righty Josh Johnson (2-0, 1.35 ERA)
Maholm has had three strong starts for the Pirates, but has had little run support during his outings. Maholm has allowed just five runs over 19.1 innings this season. During his last start against the Brewers, Maholm allowed two runs to score in the first but then tossed six scoreless frames after. He allowed four hits with three walks and six strikeouts over seven innings. Maholm is 3-4 with a 4.89 ERA in seven career starts against the Marlins.
Johnson had a no-hitter going until giving up a hit to the Braves Freddie Freeman with one out in the 8th inning. He’s allowed just three earned runs in three starts this season (20 innings).
News and Notes:
- Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan has not been comfortable throwing his slider this season, but despite that, he has still managed to pick up five saves.
Hanrahan told Kevin Goheen of MLB.com, “If something’s not working, you still have to figure out a way to get guys out. Sometimes you just make things up when you’re out there. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but for me, it comes back to believing in it and trusting in it.”
Hanrahan has allowed three runs on 11 hits with two walks and eight strikeouts over nine innings (eight appearances) this season.
- Kevin Correia’s complete game on Monday’s 9-3 win to the Cincinnati Reds was the second of his career. His other complete game came on September 25, 2009 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
- It also marked the second complete game by a Bucs starter in the past four games (Charlie Morton, the other). The Pirates had just one complete game in 2010 (Paul Maholm). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first season for the Pirates to have more than one complete game win in April since 1992 –the last year the Pirates had a winning record.
- Seven different players (Jose Tabata, Matt Diaz, Steve Pearce, Chris Snyder, Neil Walker, Lyle Overbay and Ronny Cedeno) had at least two hits in last night’s 9-3 victory over the Reds.
- The Pirates took three of four from the Reds –the first series win in Cincinnati since 2008.
- They also have won three straight road series for the first time since April in 2002. The Bucs have won seven of 10 games on the road this season.
- Pedro Alvarez is back in the lineup tonight after given the day of on Monday. Alvarez is batting just .193 on the season. Known for his slow starts to the season, Alvarez has been working extensively with hitting coach Gregg Ritchie and Manager Clint Hurdle.
Manager Clint Hurdle told Kevin Goheen of MLB.com, “We’re just trying to help him find his way back to finding some consistency on offense. His recovery period hasn’t been what you would want at this level. Every hitter is going to go through some periods when they’re down and their stroke’s not right, but what creates separation at this level is the recovery time. You want it to be shorter than longer, and there’s been some length to this.”
Pirates:
Andrew McCutchen CF, Jose Tabata LF, Lyle Overbay 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Garrett Jones RF, Ryan Doumit C, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Ronny Cedeno SS, Paul Maholm LHP
Marlins:
Chris Coglan CF, Omar Infante 2B, Hanley Ramirez SS, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Logan Morrison LF, Mike Stanton RF, John Buck C, Emilio Bonifacio 3B, Josh Johnson RHP
Morton throws complete game, Pirates beat Reds, 6-1
Charlie Morton was dominant on Friday night at Great American Ballpark in the 6-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
With two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, Morton was just one out away from picking up his second career complete game shutout.
That was until Jay Bruce took a 1-1 fastball to center field for a solo home run. Morton got the next batter, Miguel Cairo, to fly out to right field to end the game.
Morton threw 110 pitches, 81 for strikes and shined over nine innings holding the Reds to just the one run on five hits. Morton struck out three and walked two batters.
Manager Clint Hurdle told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, “There’s a lot of road in front of us, but he has been a focused young man from the first game that he pitched in Spring Training until now. Any time he doubts himself, all he needs to do is take a tape and look at this ballgame.”
Neil Walker added, “I’m no pitching coach, but watching him today from second base and seeing him continue to do the same thing over and over again and being successful doing it, that just tells you how good his stuff really is. I know this was a great, great confidence day for him, too.”
Morton picked up his second win of the season (three starts) and his ERA is 1.64.
Perhaps it was the shuffling of the Pirates lineup that got the bats swinging? Andrew McCutchen batted leadoff, followed by Jose Tabata second, Lyle Overbay third, Neil Walker fourth and Pedro Alvarez fifth. The Pirates hit two-home runs, four doubles and Tabata had a four hit night –the first of his career. He also swiped his seventh bag of the season (He has only be caught once this year).
The Bucs combined for six runs on 14 hits in the 6-1 win over the Reds. The victory snapped the four-game losing streak.
Neil Walker told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, “I think we got into a spot there near the end of the [last] series where we were pressing and we thought we had to win. That makes it tough when you’re going up there and gripping the bat a little tighter. We definitely relaxed today and we stuck with our game plan.”
Garrett Jones hit a solo-home run off of Bronson Arroyo to right field in the 2nd inning to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
The Pirates tacked on another run in the 3rd. Lyle Overbay hit a single and Pedro Alvarez doubled before Jones was intentionally walked with the bases loaded. Chris Snyder hit a RBI single, giving the Bucs a two run lead.
Jose Tabata doubled in the 4th inning. Overbay, a career .409 hitter against the Reds, hit a singled to drive in Tabata. Neil Walker followed with a two-run homer to right field, putting the Bucs up, 5-0.
Bronson Arroyo was chased from the game after four innings. He allowed five runs on nine hits, throwing 92 pitches.
The Pirates tacked on a sixth run in the 9th when Snyder singled home Walker.
The Reds lone run came off the homer given up with two outs in the 9th. They combined for just five hits off of Morton.
The Pirates improve to 5-2 on the road this season.
Pre-game: Pirates @ Reds 4/15
The Pirates (5-7) open up a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds (8-4) at Great American Ballpark tonight at 7:10 PM ET.
Right-hander Charlie Morton (1-0, 2.08 ERA) will face Righty Bronson Arroyo (2-0, 2.08 ERA).
Pirates:
Andrew McCutchen CF, Jose Tabata LF, Lyle Overbay 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Garrett Jones RF, Chris Snyder C, Ronny Cedeno SS, Charlie Morton RHP
*Manager Clint Hurdle shuffled the lineup around today.
Reds:
Drew Stubbs CF, Edgar Renteria SS, Joey Votto 1B, Scott Rolen 3B, Johnny Gomes LF, Jay Bruce RF, Miguel Cairo 2B, Ryan Hanigan C, Bronson Arroyo RHP
Pre-game News and Notes 4/13: Brewers @ Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates (5-5) will face the Milwaukee Brewers (5-5) at 7:05 for the first of a now two-game series.
Tuesday’s game was postponed due to rain. It will be made up on August 22 in part of a double-header. The first game will begin at 5:05 p.m. ET.
Right-hander Kevin Correia will face righty Shaun Marcum.
Correia out dueled Chris Carpenter during his last start pitching a seven inning shutout, limiting the Cardinals to just five hits while walking two and striking out three. Correia has been the Bucs most consistent starter this season. He even pitched an inning of relief during Friday’s 14-inning marathon game. Correia has allowed two earned runs over two starts (three appearances), 14 innings.
Marcum allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts over six innings against the Atlanta Braves his last start. Marcum is still working on his command after missing his next-to-last spring start with a stiff shoulder.
News:
- Jeff Karstens will no longer start in the rotation behind Kevin Correia and Paul Maholm (Thursday) because of the rainout, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.
Instead, Charlie Morton will pitch on Friday and James McDonald will go on Saturday. Sunday’s starter is still listed as TBD.
- Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com also reports that reliever Evan Meek has been cleared and is ready to go out of the bullpen tonight.
- Lefty Joe Beimel reported to have no issues on Wednesday after pitching on back-to-back days for the Triple-A Indians.
Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports that the Pirates want Beimel to have two days off to make sure he doesn’t have any negative effects.
Beimel could be with the big league team as early as Friday.
- After seeing video footage of Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers sliding head first into home plate on Tuesday, Manager Clint Hurdle discussed to the players the dangers of the head-first slide. Hamilton will be out six to eight weeks with a shoulder fracture.
Hurdle told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, “You are very susceptible to injury, especially at home plate. I understand why people do it. I’m just not a big fan of it.”
Brewers:
Rickie Weeks 2B, Carlos Gomez CF, Ryan Braun LF, Prince Fielder 1B, Casey McGehee 3B, Mark Kotsay RF, Yuniesky Betancourt SS, Jonathan Lucroy C, Shaun Marcum RHP
Pirates:
Jose Tabata LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Lyle Overbay 1B, Matt Diaz RF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Ryan Doumit C Ronny Cedeno SS, Kevin Correia RHP
Three run 8th costly for Bucs, lose 6-4 to Rockies
The Colorado Rockies broke open a tie game in the 8th inning after scoring three runs off of Jose Veras, as they went on to beat the Pirates, 6-4.
After a leadoff walk to Jonathan Herrera and a single to Carlos Gonzalez, Veras struck out the next two Rockies in a row. Jose Lopez was hit by a pitch to load to the bases and former Bucco Ty Wigginton came to the plate.
Wigginton took the first pitch down the left field line for a bases clearing double to give the Rockies a 6-3 lead.
Veras told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune, “I tried to come in and set up my breaking ball, maybe (get) a broken-bat rollover. That was the pitch that cost me the game.”
Right-hander Charlie Morton made his second start of the season on Saturday. He allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with five walks and one strikeouts over seven innings (92 pitches).
Morton told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune, “If the plate was moved over a foot toward the right-hander’s batter’s box, I’d be in a lot better shape. I wasn’t spraying balls everywhere. I was missing down and in to righties and away to lefties.”
Morton got off to a shaky start in the first inning. He allowed a lead off walk to Dexter Fowler, who stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Ryan Doumit. Morton walked the next batter, Herrera to put runners on the corners with no outs.
Gonzalez hit into a 6-4-3 double play but Fowler scored to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead. Morton got Troy Tulowitzki to fly out to escape the inning.
Morton threw 17 pitches in the inning, just five for strikes.
Lyle Overbay hit a lead off double off of right-hander Greg Reynolds in the 2nd. Two batters later, Ryan Doumit hit a two-run homer to right center to give the Bucs a 2-1 lead. The homer marked Doumit’s 48th as a Bucco. He is now tied with Smoky Burgess and Manny Sanguillen for fourth place on the club’s all-time homer list.
The Rockies tied the game at 2 in the 3rd inning after Morton allowed walking Fowler (for a second time in as many innings) and a RBI single by Gonzalez.
Jose Lopez homered off Morton in the 6th to put the Rockies back on top, 3-2.
The Pirates tied the game back up at 3 after Matt Diaz hit a RBI single to score Ryan Doumit.
The Rockies blew the game open in the 8th after three runs scored off of Jose Veras.
Jose Tabata hit a solo-home run in the bottom of the 8th inning to cut the lead to, 6-4, and extend his hitting streak to nine games. Tabata also hit a home run during last night’s game.
Kevin Correia pitched the 9th inning for the Bucs. He needed just nine pitches to retire the side.
The Pirates threatened in the bottom of the inning after both Matt Diaz and Jason Jaramillo singled, but Steve Pearce hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
Pre-game News and Notes: Pirates @ Cardinals 4/5
The Pirates (3-1) will face the St. Louis Cardinals (1-3) at 8:15 PM/ET tonight.
Right-hander James McDonald will be making his season debut against righty Kyle McClellan.
McDonald was limited to just 6.2 innings this spring. He was sidelined with left side soreness.
McDonald pitched well after being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in July last season. He posted a 3.52 ERA in 11 starts while striking out 61 batters in 64 innings.
- Some positive notes:
The Pirates are leading the league in several categories this season. Jose Tabata leads the National League with six runs scored, Neil Walker leads with six RBI and Joel Hanrahan is tied in the league with three saves.
Neil Walker has seven hits & seven RBI after his first four games this season. The last Pirates infielder to produce such totals in his first four games was Johnny Ray, 25 years ago.
The Bucs pitching staff also ranks fourth the NL with a 2.83 ERA (11 earned runs in 30 innings).
If the Pirates beat the Cardinals tonight (or tomorrow) and take the series, it would be the first time since 2007 that the Bucs have won back-to-back series on the road.
- Charlie Morton made a solid season debut on Monday allowing just one run on three hits over six innings against the Cardinals. He’s also coming off of a great spring where he had a 2.63 ERA over 24 innings.
Morton really looks like a different guy on the mound. Manager Clint Hurdle told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune, “I think he honestly self-evaluated (over the winter), he didn’t stick his head in the sand, he didn’t point fingers, he took responsibility and accountability for the breakdowns and the things that didn’t go well. He found focus points to work on all winter long and came out in spring training, put them into play and stayed with it. The first outing where he had some turbulence, might have been Port Charlotte where he had five runs, most he gave up in spring training, he still pitched through traffic and never let an inning get away. I think that had been some of the issues he had in the past. Just a kid who feels like it’s his time to start pitching the way he’s capable of pitching.”
Morton clearly has a new found confidence in himself this year. His teammates enjoy watching him pitch so well.
Closer Joel Hanrahan told Nate Latsch of MLB.com, “What Charlie did out there today was awesome. I told him it was fun to watch. When Charlie believes in himself and believes in his stuff, that’s what he can do, because his stuff is so good out there. He’s riding off that confidence he had in Spring Training and feeling good.
McCutchen added, “This is his first start and a good win for him. It’s good that he can have a good start like this and start off quick and get some wins and just get the confidence. … He went out and he did a great job. It’s good to be able to see that.”
- Andrew McCutchen sat out on Sunday’s game due to ‘upper body stiffness’. He told Root Sports that it was nothing serious, and just precautionary. “If it was a need for me to play [on Sunday] at that time, I would have played. Since it is pretty early you don’t want to turn something into something that could just take a day or two off. I just wanted to give it a days rest and see how I feel the next day. I feel good enough to play and I’m just going to go out there and go out and play.”
McCutchen went 1-for-4 with a two-run homerun against the Cardinals on Monday. I’d say he’s just fine.
- I’ve said it time and time again how much I love Manager Clint Hurdle and his impact on the players. I believe it was the best decision the Pirates made during the offseason in hiring him as skipper.
Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror wrote about how the great start of the season (3-1) is in large part because of Hurdle (read more here).
- The Pirates announced on Tuesday the festivities for the home opener against the Colorado Rockies on April 7th.
The gates will open at 11:30 am (first pitch is at 1:35 PM).
The Pirates will have a pre-game ceremony in honor of hall of fame manager Chuck Tanner who passed in February. Members of his family are scheduled to attend along with former players John Candelaria, Phil Garner, Grant Jackson, Bruce Kison, Jim Rooker, Manny Sanguillen, Dave Parker and Kent Tekulve. They will also unveil a tribute to Tanner that will be at PNC Park all season long and they will also have a video tribute prior to the first pitch.
There will also be a military tribute, a moment of silence for the victims of the earthquake in Japan. Pirates Charities will be collecting donations for UNICEF.
You can read more information regarding the pre-game festivities here.
- Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror reports that Bryan Morris will start opening day for Altoona Curve, Jeff Locke pitching game two. Double-A opens in Erie on Thursday.
Pirates:
Jose Tabata LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Lyle Overbay 1B, Pedro Alvarez 2B, Matt Diaz RF, Jason Jaramillo C, Ronny Cedeno SS, James McDonald RHPCardinals:
Ryan Theriot SS, Colby Rasmus CF, Albert Pujols 1B, Lance Berkman RF, Allen Craig LF, David Freese 3B, Skip Schumaker 2B, Gerald Laird C, Kyle McClellan RHP
Morton, McCutchen, lift Bucs to 4-3 victory over Cardinals
A solid pitching performance by Charlie Morton and a two-run home run by Andrew McCutchen lifted the Bucs 4-3 over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Monday night.
Morton proved his spring stats were not a fluke as he limited the Cardinals to just one run on three hits over six innings (97 pitches) with five walks and two strikeouts.
Manager Clint Hurdle told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune, “He did everything you could have hoped he would have done. He pitched an outstanding ball game.”
While his walk rate was rather high, what was most impressive was the fact that he was able to work his way out of several jams.
In the bottom of the 4th, after walking Lance Berkman and Allen Craig back-to-back, Morton got Yadier Molina to ground out to escape the inning without a run scoring.
Morton told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune, “I’m pitching more to contact. I know that sounds weird; I walked five guys. But I want him to hit it. I wanted to throw a good sinker and have him hit it. He did, and we got out of it.”
Down 1-0 in the 6th, the Pirates scored four runs off of right-hander Kyle Lohse. Ronny Cedeno lead off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Charlie Morton. Jose Tabata drew a seven pitch walk and Neil Walker hit a two-run double to take a 2-1 lead. With those two runs, Walker has a National League leading seven RBI.
In the next at-bat McCutchen, who was back in the lineup after missing Sunday with ‘upper body soreness’, hit a two-run home run to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead.
Evan Meek’s early season struggles continued as he allowed two singles, a walk, and two earned runs in the 8th.
Joel Hanrahan picked up a four out save, striking out two. Hanrahan’s three saves lead the majors.
The Pirates are now 3-1 on the season. The Cardinals fall to 1-3.
Kristy Robinson
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