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Uggla, Marlins pound out victory over Pirates

Apr 22, 2008 - 4:57 AM By David Assad PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) - The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to have pitching woes and they keep losing games.

Pittsburgh dropped its sixth consecutive game as starter Matt Morris gave up eight earned runs in a 10-4 loss to the Florida Marlins on Monday night at PNC Park in front of a sparse crowd of 8,444.

Morris labored during the four innings he pitched, giving up home runs to Hanley Ramirez in the second inning and Josh Willingham in the third. Dan Uggla led the Marlins' 16-hit attack with three hits, including a pair of doubles plus a home run against reliever Franquelis Osoria.

Morris (0-3) yielded eight runs and nine hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Marlins starting pitcher Mark Hendrickson (4-1) got into the hitting act with a line-drive double to right field in the fourth inning off Morris that led to a run. Hendrickson also hit an RBI-single in the fifth inning against Osoria.

Hendrickson lowered his ERA to 3.82 by going eight innings and allowing four runs - three earned and eight hits. He issued one walk and struck out five.

Hendrickson said his biggest challenge was staying focused after his teammates staked him to a big lead.

"There's a tendency to let-up with a big lead, but when you have a big lead like that you want to keep the pressure on them," Hendrickson said. "My pitches weren't down in the eighth inning.

"You try not to over-think out there. I just try to make quality pitches and not let the results affect what I'm ultimately trying to do. I try not to focus on the wins. As a pitcher, so many things are out of your control. I just go out there and try to stay focused on making good pitches.

With another poor outing, there is speculation on how much longer Pirates manager John Russell can continue to keep Morris in the starting rotation despite his $10 million salary, by far the highest on the roster.

"I thought (Morris) tried to be a little more aggressive, but he was in too many deep hitters' counts," Pirates manager John Russell said. "He was trying to be a little more aggressive in the zone, but he just couldn't get ahead of the hitters. When you pitch behind a lot, you're eventually going to get in trouble. It really caught up to him."

Morris never registered above 86 mph on his fastball as many of the outs the Pirates fielders recorded were also well hit balls by the Florida batters.

"He's working hard (between starts)," Russell said. "He's just got to get command of his fastball where he can hit his spots and work ahead instead of behind.If you're going to pitch, no matter what speed. (Hendrickson) was throwing a lot of pitches at 84, 86, but the difference is where you put the ball.

"I don't think (Morris) is comfortable with where he is throwing the ball and that's going to be a big key for him. He's got to get the ball where he wants it without it coming back over the middle of the plate."

Russell said that falling behind by four to six runs before the fifth inning for three consecutive games has been a strain on the Pirates hitters.

"It's tough when you look up after two or three innings and the other team has put up runs. It's hard. It shuts down a lot of things you can do as an offense," Russell said. "It shuts down any stolen base opportunities. It shuts down hit-and-runs. It will kind of make you go hitter-to-hitter and base-to-base, hoping for that big hit to get you right back in it. It's not an easy thing to do."

The only bright spot for the Pirates was center fielder Nate McLouth extending his hit streak to 19 games. McLouth had a single to right field in the eighth inning after going hitless in his first three at-bats.

McLouth's streak of hitting safely in each of the Pirates' first 19 games is the second highest to start a season in team history behind Charlie Grimm's 25-game streak in 1923 which is also a National League record.