RECAP - Pirates - 7 / Brewers - 1

"Ground Chuck" - The Pirates Pitching Savior?

Pittsburgh Pirates - 7
Milwaukee Brewers - 1

WP - Charlie Morton
LP - Grozelanny

The Pittsburgh Pirates had lost 3 in a row, and typically this is when Francisco Liriano steps in and stops the bleeding.  This time, it was Charlie Morton that stepped in as the "stopper".  Yep, Charlie Morton.  Remember him?  The Charlie Morton with a 10+ ERA when he first returned from his rehab assignment?  The Charlie Morton that would be solid for 4 innings then let the wheels completely fall off?  Yes...THAT Charlie Morton.  We all have done our fair share of Morton bashing, but I said this after his last start, and I'll say it again...Charlie Morton has been the 2nd best, if not the best, starter the Pirates have had this past month.  The only other pitcher that might be in the discussion is Liriano.  Morton's quality play couldn't come at a better time for a struggling Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation.  When players like Jeff Locke, Gerrit Cole, and AJ Burnett all seem to be "wild cards" within the rotation, Morton and Liriano have stepped in as the solid rocks that this team needs them to be.  I purposely chose to talk about Morton before talking about the Pirates offense because I feel Morton is deserving of "1st billing".  Just look at Morton's stat line - 6 2/3 innings, 5 hits, 1 run (unearned), 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, and only throwing 90 pitches.  Morton was the picture of efficiency last night, and has been over his last 3 starts.  He is getting those typical outs that "Ground Chuck" gets...ground outs, pop ups, frustrating news for opposing batters.  All great news for Pirates fans.

With all of that said, the Pirates bats seem to be waking up at the right time...especially at home.  Granted, the bats go silent from time to time, but last night was a perfect example of the "potential" that this Pirates offense can display.  Let me just list the players that had multi-hit games: Josh Harrison, Jordy Mercer, Andrew McCutchen, and Gaby Sanchez.  Again, those batters had MULTI hit games...not just getting A hit.  I've written numerous recaps that I could count the Pirates hits on one hand and the majority of those are by #22, but last night the Pirates were getting hits early and often.  McCutchen continues his MVP candidacy with a 2-4 outing with a run scored and an RBI.  Josh Harrison proved that he is a better option at the plate facing left handed pitching than Neil Walker as he went 3-4 with an RBI and scoring 3 runs in the leadoff role.  Let me take a quick side note and say that Josh Harrison is a guy that should play more.  Neil Walker, as a switch hitter, is horrendous from the right side of the plate, and I have NO PROBLEM with the Pirates almost platooning Walker when the Buccos face a left handed pitcher to give them a boost at the plate.  I would even put Harrison at third base from time to time to give Alvarez a break from time to time.  "J Hay" has the ability to spark this team, and he should be given more opportunities, in my opinion.  No one sparked the team more than the newest Pirate, Marlon Byrd.  The newly acquired RF from the NY Mets was 0-3 with some quality at bats until the 7th inning when he crushed a 3 run Home Run into the vegetation in center field at PNC Park, essentially icing the game for the Pirates as they took a 7-1 lead.  You could not ask for a better start to Byrd's Pirate career than what happened at PNC Park on Wednesday night. 

This win was a huge win for the Pirates in alot of ways.  Obviously, the Pirates stopped their 3 run skid, but this win had divisional implications as well.  Currently, the Pirates are .5 game behind the Cardinals, and with the Cardinals idle tonight, if the Pirates can beat the Brewers tonight things would be "all square" when the Cardinals come to town Friday night.  THIS is why when the 5 game home stand vs the Cardinals was billed as "the biggest series in PNC Park history" I wisely said that there will be bigger series ahead if the Pirates continued their winning ways, and that is exactly what happened.  The Pirates are 77-55, 22 games above .500, and only 5 wins away from burying "the streak".  Bigger games await this team, and Buc Nation should be excited about that!