Charlie Morton dominated the Reds tonight. In his first complete game shutout since his last start in 2009, he struck out five Reds, walked just two, had a 14:3 GO/FO rate, and was in complete control from beginning to end. I’ve been saying this since just after his first start of the year, but Morton really is a different pitcher this year. In the first inning tonight, he put two runners on with two outs, then calmly retired Scott Rolen and each of the batters in the Reds’ lineup after Rolen, not putting anyone on until his walk in the fourth. In fact, two runners reached base against Morton in the first, fourth, and eighth innings tonight, but he never broke stride and there was never even a moment when it seemed like he was going to lose it like he did so often last year. The Pirates needed a solid start tonight and Morton gave them a great one agaisnt a hot team. He’s the Pirates’ best pitcher right now and it’s really been something to watch.
And tonight he had help! In the second inning, Pedro Alvarez got some good swings in against Bronson Arroyo and worked the count deep before the veteran caught him off-guard with a changeup. It was a terrible pitch that was belt-high and right in Pedro’s wheelhouse, but since it caught Pedro off-guard it worked. “He won’t get away with that again,” John Wehner said as Pedro walked back to the dugout. In the fourth inning, with two on and one out, Arroyo decided to try almost the exact same pitch with a 1-0 count. Alvarez hammered it into the right-field stands. I know I’ve been saying since his first homer that I think Pedro looks primed to break out, but since right around the time of his quad injury he’s really been having good at-bats and not getting fooled nearly as often. Tonight, he read Arroyo like a book and hit a bad pitch a mile. I really think it’s about to come together for him.
If that wasn’t enough, Andrew McCutchen added the cherry on top with a two-run bomb of his own in the seventh. Like Alvarez he’s struggled this year and teetered on the verge of breaking out a couple of times. Unlike Pedro, his underlying line is still actually pretty good and when he does break through, people are really going to notice.
I can’t think of a better way for the Pirates to break this long (made longer by rainouts) losing streak. Charlie Morton, Pedro Alvarez, and Andrew McCutchen. Build a wall around the six games before this one, folks, because this win tonight felt good.
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