Charlie Morton's 12 strikeouts, insane breaking ball lead Rays past Orioles
Charlie Morton was in full control on Tuesday night.
The Tampa Bay Rays All-Star pitcher struck out a season-high 12 batters, including an impressive six straight, in their 6-3 win against the Baltimore Orioles. He gave up just four hits and one walk in his seven innings, too.
“It wasn't until the sixth probably when I made a sizable adjustment and I kind of got in a groove,” Morton said, via the Associated Press. “I would say I got away with some stuff tonight. But results-wise, you can't look back at that and say it was a bad start.”
Perhaps his most impressive strikeout of the night, however, came against Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander.
Morton struck out Santander with an insane curveball that broke so hard it went between Santander’s legs and hit his left foot after he had already fully committed to swinging.
Y’all wanna see a nutmeg K? pic.twitter.com/KLtP8YTnni
— Cut4 (@Cut4) July 3, 2019
While that’s unusual, it’s not the first time Morton has fooled a batter that way.
“It’s happened a few times on that pitch in particular, on the curveball. It’s a sweeper,” Morton said, via Josh Tolentino of The Athletic. “You could tell he kind of had some trouble seeing that curveball. So he’s got that in the back of his mind, he’s having trouble seeing that ... That ball starts out like a heater in and it finishes in the batter’s box. That happens every now and then.”
#Rays Charlie Morton confirms he has nutmegged an opposing hitter before.
Anthony Santander is just another #nutmeg victim pic.twitter.com/OQNqjvwTQZ— Josh Tolentino (@JCTSports) July 3, 2019
Despite his impressive performance, and ridiculous breaking ball, Morton wasn’t totally pleased with his outing — particularly with his fastball, which he said he missed big with multiple times.
Regardless, Rays manager Kevin Cash was pleased with his 35-year-old pitcher after their fourth-straight win.
“I just see the influence that he has on his teammates and the way a lot of the starting pitchers … have kind of gravitated to him,’’ Cash said, via the Tampa Bay Times. “You see during the game … they’re always communicating. He’s just kind of a model of consistency the way he carries himself.’’
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