Charlie Morton sparks as Pittsburgh Pirates defeat Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 - MLB Update
Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting pitcher, Charlie Morton had a remarkable day with the ball as he pitched six innings and struck-out five batters with an ERA of 3.67 in the Pirates’ 5-3 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, Arizona on September
20.
Pirates added one run in the first inning and got a 1-0 lead. Neil Walker doubled to deep right-centre and Alex Presley posted a single run. Pedro Alvarez struck a solo homer (419 feet) towards right-field to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead at the top of the
second inning. Aaron Hill walked at the bottom of the third but Willie Bloomquist flied out, Daniel Hudson ground out to third base and Justin Upton struck-out without scoring runs.
Similarly, Garrett Jones and Morton both singled towards centre-field but Ronny Cedeno lined out and Alvarez struck-out without contributing even a single run. Morton got out to second base when Presley hit a grounder into fielder’s choice to short-stop
position. Pirates further increased their lead 3-0 in the fifth inning when Ryan Doumit doubled to right-field and Andrew McCutchen scored a single run. Derrek Lee occupied third base to end the fifth inning.
In the sixth inning, Diamondbacks were score-less again as Paul Goldschmidt ground out, Chris Young popped out and Ryan Roberts struck-out without yielding even a single run. Morton permitted three hits and three walks on his 106 pitches.
Diamondbacks scored their initial run at the bottom of seventh inning to cut their deficit 3-1. Gerardo Parra posted one run for Diamondbacks when Bloomquist bunted a single-run drive towards centre-field. Sean Burroughs occupied second base to end the seventh
inning. Pirates added two runs during the eighth to raise their lead while Diamondbacks also posted two runs to reduce their lead 5-3 at the bottom of the eighth inning.
Lee hit a two-run homer (398 feet) towards left-field and Presley scored one run for Pirates. On the other hand, Young contributed a single run for Diamondbacks when Roberts drove towards centre-field. The second or final run was taken by Roberts when Bloomquist
was saved to reach first base on the throwing error of Pirates’ Alvarez. Parra moved to third base to end the eighth inning.
As a result, Pirates were able to level the three-game series 1-1 after defeating the Diamondbacks in a thrilling encounter.
Tags: