Results tagged ‘ ricky nolasco ’
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.
Kristy Robinson
Recent Comments