The Mets racked up 11 hits against Charlie Morton tonight, which isn't something I'd worry about in the least. All were singles, and lots of them were cheap ones. The two runs the Mets scored on Morton in the second, both of which were unearned, were about the cheapest runs ever - Morton only allowed one ball to leave the infield, and he didn't walk anyone. It took two infield singles, one of which came on what could have been a double play, and a passed ball to make those runs happen. (Chris Snyder also had a second passed ball that inning, which came after both runs scored.) Morton still got 15 ground balls in this game, to go along with four strikeouts and no walks. He pitched very well, but just didn't get much luck. That's going to happen when one puts as many balls in play as he does, and frankly it's a little surprising that it hadn't really happened much before tonight.
The more worrisome aspect of tonight's game was the Pirates' inability to get to Dillon Gee, who struck out eight while allowing five hits over seven innings. (The Bucs only had five hits total, but we're getting used to that, aren't we?) Snyder homered off Gee with a man on in the second inning, but that's really all the offense could manage. The Pirates tied the game 3-3 in the seventh inning, but Daniel McCutchen struggled in the bottom of the inning, allowing two runs - and like Morton, he had gotten his fair share of luck so far this year, so it's hard to complain. The Mets tacked on two more runs against Jose Ascanio in the eighth.