• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Jurrjens, Morton square off in Steel City

May 24, 2011 - 2:29 PM (Sports Network) - Pittsburgh Pirates starter Charlie Morton will try to win his fourth straight start this evening when he squares off against his former club, the Atlanta Braves, in the opener of a two-game set at PNC Park.

Morton, a 2002 draft pick of the Braves who pitched for one season with the club in 2008, is 5-1 with a 2.62 earned run average through eight starts and is coming off his second career shutout, a five-hitter in Cincinnati on Wednesday.

"For me, that's the best thing I can do," said Morton. "I mean, that's the most rewarding thing in my eyes that a starter can do, is go out there and throw a complete game. So I feel like I did my job."

The 27-year-old righty hasn't lost since April 20, going 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA in his last four starts.

Morton has faced the Braves twice before, going 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA.

Atlanta counters with Jair Jurrjens, who will serve as the other side of this potential pitcher's duel. Jurrjens is second in the National League with a 1.80 earned run average and is 5-1 through seven starts.

The right-hander is coming off his first loss of the season, one that snapped a four-start winning streak, but it was to no fault of his own. Jurrjens held Arizona to a pair of runs on eight hits, including just his second homer allowed this season, over 6 2/3 innings of a 2-1 loss on Thursday.

"J.J. pitched good enough to deserve to win the ballgame," said Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez. "Our bats didn't come alive until those last two innings. That's just the way it goes sometimes."

In four career starts against the Pirates, the 25-year-old Jurrjens is 1-3 with a 3.13 ERA.

Jurrjens may have to remain in top form tonight given that Atlanta will be without two of its regulars. Jason Heyward was placed on the 15-day disabled list following Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Angels because of discomfort in his right shoulder, while fellow outfielder Nate McLouth suffered a strained left oblique during his first at-bat of the game and landed on the DL Monday.

Heyward has been in a prolonged slump in May, going just 4-for-41 (.098) during the month without a homer or RBI.

Without Heyward and McLouth, the Braves managed just Joe Mather's RBI hit that scored Freddie Freeman, who had two of Atlanta's six hits in its fourth loss in five games. Derek Lowe gave up three runs over six innings to suffer the defeat.

"Lowe pitched well enough to win the ballgame. They got the big hits when they needed to and we didn't," Gonzalez said.

The Pirates will also be looking to rebound tonight after having a four-game win streak halted with Sunday's 2-0 setback to the Tigers. Pittsburgh was held to just two hits in the loss, one each from Ronny Cedeno and Xavier Paul.

"There wasn't a whole lot of offense for us," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "We did everything we could as a staff to minimize the damage."

Paul Maholm was the hard-luck loser, allowing two runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Hurdle will have a new bullpen option for this game after the Pirates activated former All-Star Evan Meek from the disabled list. The right-hander was out with shoulder tendinitis and is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 11 games this season.

The Braves took six of nine from the Pirates a season ago, with the clubs splitting six games at PNC Park.