Charlie Morton Overload: Can Bucs Get Back to Back Road Wins for Second Time?

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The Pirates won back to back road games just four times last year.  A win today would give the Pirates two already this season.   It’s a big deal especially in the mental side of the game.  It is an early sign for me that if the team can get some starting pitching, especially if Ross Ohlendorf is shut down, it could reach the 75 win plateau.   Without Morton being effective, the team has very little upside.

Pirates Report  is where Morton’s latest blog entry can be found: Don’t Have to be a Pitcher to be Cool on our Team and also this cool video.

Charlie Morton needs to trust his fastball today.  Win with it.  The right hander is coming off a loss in Arizona in which Morton struck out five of the fist six before he gave up six runs.  In the third inning, the Snakes feasted on Morton’s fastballs that stayed in the heart of the plate after he started missing with his off speed stuff.

Charlie owned the Giants with a 2.37ERA last season.  He allowed just five earned runs in 19 innings.

Giants starter  Jonathan Sanchez struck out six in 4.1 innings during the home opener.  He struggled with fastball command.  You might remember that Sanchez was rumored to be a Bucco last season during the trade deadline. 

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OPS:  Aki Iwamura has reached base safely in every game.

Thief:  Andrew McCutchen leads the league with five steals.

Ring ’em up:  The Bucs bullpen has 16 strikeouts in the last 13 innings.  Their 28 strikeouts ranks third in the NL