Pirates make a brief stop in Baltimore

Published February 05, 2015

(SportsNetwork.com) - The suddenly skidding Pittsburgh Pirates will try to recapture their interleague magic from a season ago when they visit Camden Yards on Tuesday night to begin a two-game series with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Pirates led the majors with a 15-5 interleague record in 2013, en route to their first postseason appearance in more than 20 years.

This spring, Pittsburgh has lost eight of 10 after an 8-8 start.

The Pirates' starting pitchers have won just once in their last 14 starts while posting a bloated 4.68 earned run average.

Right-hander Charlie Morton becomes the latest to try and reverse that trend in the series opener.

Morton lost his lone career start against Baltimore in 2011 and is 0-5 with a 4.16 ERA over his last 11 starts.

The latest defeat came Wednesday, when he was touched for four runs in six innings of a 5-2 loss to Cincinnati.

"There were times were I was trying to go inside on left-handed hitters and missing in the right-handed batter's box," he said. "I was literally missing by three feet."

Baltimore replies with right-hander Chris Tillman, who meets the Pirates for the first time.

He's been a much more reliable commodity at Camden Yards than anywhere else this season, boasting a 0.69 ERA on the home turf as compared to a 5.21 mark away from home.

He's won two straight decisions, including a 10-8 verdict at Toronto on Wednesday in which he surrendered seven runs in 5 2/3 innings.

On Sunday in St. Louis, Adam Wainwright stretched his shutout streak to 25 innings and Jhonny Peralta hit two homers, leading the Cardinals to a 7-0 win over the Pirates to complete a three-game series.

Peralta snapped St. Louis' 10-game homerless streak with a solo shot in the fifth inning, then added a three-run blast in the sixth to give the Cardinals a 6-0 lead and chase Pittsburgh starter Edinson Volquez (1-2) from the game

In Baltimore, Omar Infante tied a career high with six RBI to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 9-3 win over the Orioles in the rubber match of a three-game set.

Nelson Cruz belted his seventh homer of the season to account for Baltimore's offense.

Miguel Gonzalez (1-2) took the loss after allowing four runs -- three earned -- over six innings with four strikeouts and a walk.

Baltimore swept Pittsburgh in three games back in 2012 at Camden Yards.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/pirates-make-a-brief-stop-in-baltimore