The Pittsburgh Pirates struggled mightily on offense in their series this week against the Milwaukee Brewers. Wednesday night's output was a little bit better but not by much. However, with a 2-0 win, the Pirates salvaged the final game of the series as Charlie Morton channeled his alter ego, "Ground Chuck," which he is nicknamed by many because of his ability to force batters to hit ground balls.
Morton is now 4-0 since joining the Pirates after recovering from offseason surgery. Morton's earned run average dropped down to 2.05 on the year as well. He went 7 1/3 innings, shutting out the Brewers and allowing just three hits while striking out six batters.
The Pirates scored their first run of the game on an infield single from Starling Marte in the bottom of the first inning that scored Gregory Polanco. Marte collected his 41st RBI of the season on the hit.
The second and final run of the game came when Pedro Alvarez drilled a tape-measure solo homer off Brewers starter Kyle Lohse in the bottom of the second. The homer by Alvarez was his 10th on the season. It completely cleared the bleachers and landed on the sidewalk just in front of the river (video). A bass drum prevented the ball from getting wet.
The Pirates were 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and they left seven runners on base. They had some ducks on the pond and opportunities to make the game worse than what it was, but they just could not do it.
With the performance from Morton, the Pirates were able to get by with scoring just two runs. The upcoming weekend series against the Phillies provides a chance to get some offense going because the Phillies are not a good ball club this year. Those kind of series can prove big enough to help get some confidence going for a team offensively.
