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Game 4: Young, D-Backs Slam Morton

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That sound you hear? It could be the bubble bursting. I’m not saying that I’ve lost hope. But the thought entered my mind that the two game winning streak that opened the season might be the longest winning streak of April.

The game started well. Charlie Morton struck out five of the first six Arizona hitters. The transmission dropped in the third. Morton allowed a two run single to ex-Bucco Adam LaRoche and, later in the inning, a grand slam to Chris Young. That six to zero hole was to high for the Pirates to jump out of.

Snakes starter Rodrigo Lopez, still on the comeback from Tommy John surgery, pitched well. He walked one, allowed six hits and gave up just one run in six innings. He pitched seven times in 2009 after being sidelined for all of 2008.

Jeff Clement contributed the Pirates only RBI with a single in the sixth.

The Good
Garrett Jones had two hits and drew a walk.

D.J. Carrasco, Evan Meek and Hayden Penn combined to allow one run (Meek) in 4-2/3 in relief of Morton.

Morton totaled six whiffs – a season high for Pirate starters.

The Bad
Getting handcuffed offensively.

Morton getting torched.

The Rest
The notoriously slow starting Adam LaRoche was 0-13 entering the game. In addition to the 2-RBI single in the third, he knocked in another run in the fourth with a single, giving him three RBI for the game. His notoriously slow starting brother was 0-4.

This might be an ugly statement about the quality of the players on the Pirates roster over the past couple of years or it could be an aberration: the last time an ex-Pirate had three RBI against his former mates was David Ross on 4/19/09 while playing for Atlanta. Ross has done it three times. Aramis Ramirez has done it nine times. Brian Giles did it only once and Jason Kendall has never done it..

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