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Pirates’ Charlie Morton blows away Cincinnati
AP
Photo
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Charlie Morton throws against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning of a major league baseball game, Friday, April 15, 2011 in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Associated Press
CINCINNATI
Wind gusts howled through the upper decks and made it rain sideways at Great American Ball Park — not the best kind of night to be standing on the mound.
“I saw a bunch of plastic bags fly by,” Pirates starter Charlie Morton said. “I didn’t know what was coming next.”
What came next? A complete game.
Morton went the distance for the second time in his career, limiting the NL’s most prolific lineup to five hits, and the Pirates ended their four-game losing streak by beating the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 in blustery conditions.
Sometimes, it was tough just to hold your ground.
“The only place I’ve been like that is in Candlestick Park,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “With that much debris on the field, the wind, the rain — the rain sideways. I mean, the rain’s all over the place. You don’t know where it’s coming from. I think sometimes it was going back up. So it was challenging conditions to say the least.
“He stayed focused. It was Charlie’s night. Our offense showed up, and it was Charlie’s night.”
The gusts sent food wrappers racing across the field and played havoc with flyballs — one of Cincinnati’s wind-blown flies landed for a hit. No problem for Morton (2-0), who kept his shutout until Jay Bruce homered with two outs in the ninth. His only other complete game was a shutout against the Cubs on Sept. 30, 2009.
Garrett Jones and Neil Walker homered off Bronson Arroyo (2-1), who gave up a season-high five runs in only four innings.
Five players batted in new positions in the lineup, with Andrew McCutchen batting leadoff for the first this season. McCutchen struck out four times. Everyone else did much better .
Jose Tabata had a career-high four hits, and Garrett Jones led off the second inning with a homer.