Morton of the same

Only Charlie Morton could allow six runs in less than four innings and have his ERA go down,but thanks to four of those runs being unearned,Morton did just that in the Pirates latest loss to Washington 8-1 on Sunday.
Pedro Alvarez hit his 11th homer for the only Pittsburgh run.
Atlanta hits PNC Park next for a series that is beginning as we speak.

Pirate Hooks

1) Very few of these because I have little to talk about,but not everything was Charlie Morton's fault for a change.
Three errors and the killer error by Garrett Jones sent the game out of control.
If Jones grabs that ball and turns into the double play that it seemed to be,things might have been far different for the Buccos..

2) Jeff Karstens looks to be finished for the season.
Karstens spot will likely go to Brad Lincoln in the rotation,which no matter the result,is needed for Lincoln's development....

3) Joe Martinez was recalled from Indianapolis.
Martinez was the other player with John Bowker that the Pirates obtained from Javier Lopez.

4) Finally,in the only good news of the day,Bill Mazeroski had his statue outside of PNC Park dedicated before the game.
Mazeroski certainly deserves the honor as the only long term Pirate still living to be in the Hall of Fame.
I had to make the distinction of long term as Goose Gossage and Jim Bunning each spent some time as a Pirate over the course of their careers.
Now,that Maz has his statue,the next step should be to honor more Pirate great with statues.
Next could be Pie Traynor or a dual statue of Paul and Lloyd Waner.
Pittsburgh baseball has such a great heritage and adding those players to the PNC area can do nothing but improve a great thing...

Photo Credit-AP Photo