When the local paper headlines a game story "Morton not being demoted," well, that doesn't suggest the game went well, does it? Morton allowed back-to-back homers to Scott Rolen and Jay Bruce in the first, allowed three runs in the second to make it seven (five earned) for the night, then hit the showers. Both the homers were on fastballs that were way up in the zone; they were just complete cookies. The Pirates continue to say they won't send Morton down, and at this point, it's an open question what Morton would have to do to finally change their minds. He's horrible. Brad Lincoln is scheduled to pitch Friday night against Charlotte.
In the minors, Hayden Penn got bombed for Indianapolis and at this rate may soon be known as "Indiana's Charlie Morton," but Indianapolis won anyway on the strength of a 4-for-5 night by Pedro Alvarez and a homer and triple by Kevin Melillo. Altoona got 4-hit in a 5-2 loss to Akron. Tony Sanchez, Jeremy Farrell and Calvin Anderson all turned in multiple-hit games for Bradenton, but the Marauders still lost 5-2 to Tampa. And West Virginia lost 5-3 to Lexington.
Some very minor transactions: 2006 second-round pick Mike Felix has been released. Dave Littlefield made some horrible draft picks in his day--and actually his 2007 and 2005 second rounders Duke Welker and Brad Corley were no better--but Felix ranks right up there. Unlike other early Littlefield picks like Welker, Danny Moskos and Taber Lee (among others), Felix actually wasn't a complete joke of a pick, at least not at the time; he managed to stick around the organization for several years despite horrible results and even a DUI, because lefties with velocity are hard to find. But four years on, he racked up more walks than strikeouts for his Pirates career.
And here's a follow-up on something I noted earlier: former Bucs minor league starter Nelson Pereira has signed with the Mets.