DETROIT — Charlie Morton was feeling great just a few weeks ago. A trade to the Detroit Tigers at the deadline saw the 41-year-old righty find some of his rhythm again as a starter after fighting an uphill battle as part of the Baltimore Orioles pitching staff.
But a handful of quality performances preceded a steep drop off in his play as the Tigers entered the postseason push over the last few weeks.
It all looked to come to a head as Morton was roughed up by the Atlanta Braves early in what would be a 10-1 loss Friday night at Comerica Park. After allowing six runs in 1 1/3 innings, Morton was left let down in what could be his final game of the season.
“It’s heartbreaking. Getting to a place here in Detroit with a really good team, a team that traded for you and wants you to be here, and feeling like I was in a really good spot. I felt like I battled to get back to where I had been,” Morton said. “Tonight, a really crucial time of the year and yeah, it’s heartbreaking. It’s really disappointing.”
Things didn’t start well for Morton, giving up a leadoff double and hitting Matt Olson on the foot to get two quick baserunners.
Then went the command as eight of the next nine pitches he threw were outside the zone, walking consecutive batters and scoring one.
A two-RBI single from Ozzie Albies broke the game open after Morton tossed a trio of curveballs in the same relative spot inside the zone.
“Charlie couldn’t really throw the ball anywhere close to where he was trying to,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s like, is it going to click in for him? And it didn’t.”
Three hits in the second inning — including a two-run homer from Ronald Acuña Jr. — signaled the end of the outing for Morton.
Morton wasn’t upset with his stuff, he felt like the zip on most of his pitches was as good as it had been in the last few weeks. But finding the right location eluded him for almost the entirety of a brief start.
After some promising moments early in his tenure with the Tigers as a trade-deadline acquisition, Morton registered an 11.60 ERA over his last five starts, which were all Tigers losses.
Morton was added to help a rotation marred by injuries earlier this season and bringing in a veteran pitcher with experience playing under Hinch with the Houston Astros.
“I know how much it matters to him and I know that he’s trying to make some adjustments and I know that he’s carrying the weight of all of this on his shoulders, because that’s his personality,” Hinch said. “He’s shown flashes of what he can do and how he can be really difficult and even within some of these outings you’ve seen it. But he hasn’t been able to put it together consistently. It’s a tough go for him.”
When asked if there’s time to get Morton back on the mound in one of the crucial eight games left to try and set him up for a spot on a potential postseason roster, Hinch said he doesn’t know at this point.
Morton isn’t expecting anything, for sure. He knows he’ll keep working at whatever adjustments the coaching staff might see for him, study opposing hitters and continue his typical routine.
The Tigers continue their slide back, having dropped seven of their last eight and the Cleveland Guardians hot on their tails for the American League Central title.
Every game the Tigers drop makes the next even more important and Morton’s ability to contribute is out of his hands now.
“This is a group that’s just very positive and very talented. On a night like tonight where we had a tough series against Cleveland, the Braves had struggled this year. It’s like ‘Alright, let’s get back a little momentum going’ and then I go out there and give up six runs in a minute and just put the team in a really bad spot,” Morton said. “I’m personally just really disappointed in myself.”
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