USMNT's Morris Joins Middlesbrough From Crew
ATLANTA -- — Marcell Ozuna drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double in Atlanta's five-run third inning, Charlie Morton gave up only three hits to Pittsburgh, his former home, and the Braves beat the Pirates 6-1 on Friday night.
Morton, 40, has wins against every major league team with his first win over the Pirates. He pitched for Pittsburgh from 2009 through 2015. The 40-year-old right-hander pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings and had seven strikeouts.
“There's always been a special place for me for Pittsburgh,” Morton said. “I spent seven seasons there and experienced a lot of lows and highs.”
Austin Riley hit his ninth homer, including six in the last 14 games. The Braves scored six runs in four innings off Martín Pérez (1-4) in the left-hander's return from the injured list. Pérez had been out since May 27 with a left groin muscle strain.
The highlight for the Pirates came in the eighth when Bryan Reynolds singled up the middle off Jesse Chavez, extending his hitting streak to 24 games, the longest in the majors this season. It is the longest streak by a Pittsburgh hitter since 2003.
Morton (5-4) was dominant in only his second career start against Pittsburgh.
“That was old-school Charlie Morton curve ball,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “He had the ability to go to it anytime he wanted to. You see why he's pitched 15 years in the big leagues. I don't know if he can have a better curve ball than that.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker said Morton completing his list of wins against every team “is a pretty cool thing.”
“What he does is amazing to me with all the innings and years and pitches,” Snitker said.
Morton hit Reynolds with a pitch in the first and walked Nick Gonzales in the second. He retired 10 consecutive hitters before Ke'Bryan Hayes' single up the middle with one out in the fifth for the Pirates' first hit. Andrew McCutchen opened the sixth with an infield single and Gonzales doubled to open the seventh.
The Pirates avoided a shutout when Hayes' two-out double off Aaron Bummer in the ninth drove in Connor Joe, who had a pinch-hit double.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: Rookie RHP Jared Jones had his normal turn in the rotation skipped. Jones has logged 86 innings after throwing a career-high 126 1/3 in the minor leagues last season. “We went into the season knowing from the get-go we were going to have to be mindful of his innings,” Shelton said. ... IF Jake Lamb signed as a minor league free agent and was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Braves: OF Ramón Laureano did not start for the second straight game due to lower back soreness after making a throw in the second game of Wednesday's double-header at St. Louis. ... LHP A.J. Minter (left hip inflammation) is scheduled to throw Sunday at Triple-A Gwinnett in possibly his final rehab appearance since landing on the IL on May 30.
UP NEXT
Pittsburgh rookie standout RHP Paul Skenes (4-0, 2.14 ERA) will face Braves LHP Max Fried (7-3, 3.00) on Saturday. “He's pretty special,” said Snitker of Skenes, who has allowed no more than one earned run in five of his eight starts. “As hard as it will be, it's kind of cool when you see a young talent like that in person.”
------
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
BM3151 G B Front Copyright Left Front Scaled 0a15f81a3e18ba50234306550cc16859 623137DJ Rendering 001 1666126535 1517 1 1200 ?v=01851 2 1200 ?v=05d80cc086b5ca001f9381e57bc4888a0 1851 1 288 ?v=0W600 ?v=26ddf087948585ce54ad2eb6538057162 W600 ?v=2W600 ?v=11Il Fullxfull.4381010852 N0lj Db462ba8bb8b7457e54b8dd2e2435ea5 BM3151 G B Left Front Copyright Scaled 800e6888abdc34440efa752ae60907e8 208 3bdrFLplan 62f20258ba80e655909c3feef20d522c 77b3b3cecb6db48d5b0a4024b305baf2 4 Bedroom House Plans Single Story C5d27c4c3d4659e2d267694f9ccd202a 77557540c3e866d6247ab3c24f40da70 E965212632dc46bcface4dadb7c3ee23 69ae6e8746e3f1f231b7a5e71331344d 428f0c80d0c815f6f5820befd4b82f0f 3bba98f9f8d433ba1171b97986dd9c02 4b4c7b23fb2d83a1d89edac07ba6fb0c 519768d24ed15e5858d5145ad7cdb34d 526bdbf1a94c9819cb186474db1aa933 Ea2f760303669a433f2a71504243b41e 7424 1 1200 ?v=0W800x533 ?v=11Il Fullxfull.4436371024 C5xy Il Fullxfull.4137072727 A6yg