By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Following a month-long reset in the bullpen, Charlie Morton was reinserted into the Orioles’ rotation for a Memorial Day matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals at Camden Yards. The veteran proceeded to deliver his best performance thus far, cruising for the majority of a season-high six innings and allowing only two runs as the Cardinals fell 5-2 to Baltimore.
Baltimore scored all their runs in the first five innings, which would be all the offense the O's would need. Jackson Holliday scored a run on a groundout by Gunnar Henderson in the first inning for the first run of the game. In the third inning, it was Holliday singling to drive in former Cardinal Dylan Carlson, before in the fourth inning, Carlson hit a three run home run, scoring himself, Ryan O'Hearn, and Heston Kjerstad for the 5-0 lead.
Morton’s strong 86-pitch outing -- which featured five strikeouts and only four hits allowed, including the only offense the Cardinals got in the fifth inning, a two run home run by Pedro Pagés, rewarded the patience of the Orioles, who remained “very confident” he could get on track, as interim manager Tony Mansolino put it.
After going 0-5 with a 10.89 ERA over his first five O’s starts, Morton was sent to the bullpen. At first, the results weren’t much better (a 6.43 ERA in his first three relief outings). Then, something clicked in Anaheim on May 10, when he tossed two perfect innings. Morton has a 2.35 ERA in 15 1/3 innings over his past four appearances, the most recent earning him his first Orioles win.
Erick Fedde took the loss for the Cardinals, falling to 3-4 on the season, giving up five runs, just three earned, on seven hits while striking out five batters and walking one. Nolan Gorman led at the plate for St. Louis, going 2-3 with one run scored.
St. Louis and Baltimore continue their series tomorrow. Andre Pallante (4-3, 4.18 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals against Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3, 3.07 ERA) for the Orioles. First pitch is at 5:35pm, pregame coverage will be joined at 5:25 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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