Morgan impressive as Phillies defeat Pirates

Tim Kelly

March 8 2016

Final: Phillies 4, Pirates 2

CLEARWATER, Fla. — After struggling in his first Spring Training appearence, lefty Adam Morgan firmly put himself back into the discussion for the fifth starter spot in Tuesday's win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Morgan tossed three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and walking one as the Phillies swept their Spring home-and-home series against their in-state rivals.

WP: Adam Morgan ❖ LP: Jon Niese ❖ SV: Dalier Hinojosa

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PIT	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	4	0
PHI	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	4	6	0

Adam Morgan was impressive against the Pirates, tossing three innings and not allowing a run. Whether it's the fifth spot in the rotation or a spot in a bullpen that has little certainty in terms of left-handed arms, if Morgan continues to pitch like he did on Tuesday, he will force his way on to the Opening Day roster.

The Pirates countered with former New York Met Jon Niese, who struggled in his three innings of work. Niese allowed a first inning two-run home run from Darin Ruf, who continues to thrive against left-handed pitching. In the second inning, Cesar Hernandez roped a triple over Andrew McCutchen's head in center field, bringing home Tyler Goeddel and Nick Williams. Niese pitched a scoreless third inning, but the damage from his first two innings doomed the Pirates.

Andrew Bailey, Yoervis Medina and Elvis Araujo pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Morgan, when combined with yesterday's Phillies' shutout win gave the Phillies 15 consecutive scoreless innings.

The scoreless streak was broken in the seventh, as the Pirates pushed home two runs against Chris Leroux on RBIs from Cole Figueroa and Harold Ramirez. Fortunately, Leroux was able to limit the damage, as he stranded the potential tying runs to get out of the seventh.

From there, Bobby LaFromboise and Dalier Hinojosa didn't allow a hit, each pitching an inning, as the Phillies sealed a sweep of their home-and-home with the Pirates.

Back to Hub

Starting Pitchers

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jon Niese	3.0	2	4	4	2	0	1	14.40
Adam Morgan	3.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	3.60

Adam Morgan, vying for the fifth spot in the rotation, was impressive this afternoon. With the exception of a single that he allowed to Niese, Morgan didn't allow a run (or a hit for that matter) in three innings. This was important for Morgan, who entered the game with a 9.00 ERA in Spring Training. Given his performance today, he still seems to be in the mix with both Vincent Velasquez and Brett Oberholtzer for the final rotation spot.

Andrew Bailey relieved Morgan in the fourth inning, and though he missed his spot on his first batter, didn't allow a hit in his one inning of work. He's certainly forcing himself into the mix for a spot in the bullpen.

Back to Hub

At the Plate

Pirates