Charlie Morton’s sinker gets most of the press, and because of that it’s easy to forget that his curveball was once supposed to be his out pitch. Against the strongest lineup in the National League last night (at least statistcally speaking) it was the curveball that was generating a ton of whiffs for Morton, though, enabling him to put together one of the most impressive recent starts for the Pirates. By my count, six of his eight strikeouts came on the curveball. He threw the pitch 28 times last night, got 14 swings, and 10 whiffs. Combined with his heavy sinker and a ton of ground balls, that let Morton go 6 2/3 shutout innings with eight strikeouts, scattering four hits and walking two.
Morton’s been excellent in three of his last four starts now, against the Reds, Mets, and Giants. Even counting his rough start against the Dodgers, he’s got a 2.52 ERA in August with 30 strikeouts and six walks in 25 innings. Morton’s always been a bit of an unpredictable roller coaster, but the good Charlie Morton seems to be peeking his head out at the right time for the Pirates.
On the offensive side last night, Aramis Ramirez and Jung Ho Kang both drove in runs early with opposite field doubles, then Kang scored on a Neil Walker homer after an opposite field single. It’s been really interesting to watch Kang drive the ball to right field lately; presumably pitchers have been reacting to his torrid July/August stretch by trying to keep the ball away from him, and he’s been going with it to the opposite field with some good results. He just keeps on impressing.
The Cardinals were off last night and the Cubs won, so the Pirates cut the Cards’ NL Central lead to 4 1/2, they held their lead over the Cubs at four games, and they’re now eight games up on the Giants for a playoff spot. There are no bad wins at this time of year, but this was a particularly nice one.
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