Morton Throws 6 Scoreless Innings, Pirates Win 3-1
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (KDKA/AP) After one of the Pittsburgh Pirates' best pitching performances of the spring, Charlie Morton has secured a spot in the Opening Day rotation.
Morton threw six shutout innings giving up four hits, striking out five and dropping his spring ERA to 1.29 in the Pirates' 3-1 win over the Houston Astros split squad.
Coming off a 2-12 season, manager Clint Hurdle is impressed with what he's seen from Morton this spring. Hurdle said Morton's performance was "our best outing of the spring."
"Just the overall demeanor of the man has looked very good and clean to me. So, I don't have anything else to compare it to, but he definitely was very aggressive today."
Shortstop Ronny Cedeno hit a two-run home run to left field off Astros pitcher Rowland-Smith in the top of the second inning to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
An inning later, catcher Ryan Doumit hit an RBI triple to put the Pirates ahead 3-0.
Second baseman Neil Walker continued to struggle this spring and went 0-for-4 against the Astros, which lowered his spring batting average to .196.
Walker has a total of 18 hits in 48 at bats this spring with only four extra base hits and four RBIs.
The Pirates will play the Minnesota Twins on Monday at 1:05 p.m. in Bradenton, Fla.
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