Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( May 10, 2010 ) Cincinnati 2, Pittsburgh 1
In his first five starts of the season, Charlie Morton served as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ stopper.
But not in the traditional sense of the word.
While traditionally the “stopper” of a starting rotation is the ace of the staff that puts an end to losing streaks, Morton seemed to stop any hope of Pittsburgh victory.
The 26-year-old right-hander allowed five or more earned runs in all of his first four outings, yet still Pittsburgh’s brass insisted he had the best stuff of any of the team's starting pitchers with a fastball that registered well into the 90s.
If only he would challenge hitters more with it, Morton could reach the potential the brass saw in him when it traded Gold Glove winning outfielder Nate McClouth for him last season.
Morton has begun to show his promise, hurling two quality starts with a nifty 11-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 12 innings while picking up his first victory last Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs.
On Tuesday night, Morton will face another young star who is coming into his own after experiencing some early season shakiness in Johnny Cueto of the Cincinnati Reds.
Cueto was slated as an up-and-comer as well by the Reds this season. He also has shown good control with a 25-12 strikeouts-to-walks ratio in 33 innings this season, but, like Morton, only has a single victory to show for it - a 3-2 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 30.
To his credit, Cueto has gone at least five innings in all of his six starts this season and is coming off a six inning no-decision to the New York Mets last Wednesday. In that outing, he fanned eight and left with a 4-3 lead.
Cueto will be facing a team that has struggled offensively of late. Since an 11-1 victory against the Cubs on Thursday, the Pirates have not scored more than four runs in their last four games.
In Monday night’s 2-1 loss to the Reds, six of the Pirates’ regular starters had batting averages of less than .250. Furthermore, hot hitting outfielder Andrew McCutchen was 0-for-3 and left Delwyn Young on at second base with two outs in the eighth with a chance to tie the score.
Then again, Cincinnati’s hot hitting first baseman Joey Votto saw his eight-game hitting streak come to an end. Second baseman Brandon Phillips, who was batting .350 in his last 10 games coming into this series, was 0-for-4 in Monday’s contest.
The Reds will start right-handed hitting Johnny Gomes in left field on Tuesday after giving lefty Laynce Nix the start on Monday. Nix drove in the Reds’ first run on Monday.