Morton pitches like a frontline starter to reach elite milestone

ATLANTA -- Charlie Morton isn’t going to be an All-Star and he won’t be a Cy Young Award candidate. But if he continues to stabilize the back of the Braves’ rotation like he has during this season’s first half, then he could be a World Series champion for the third time in the past eight seasons.

Morton performed like a frontline starter, striking out seven over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, and benefited from Austin Riley’s latest homer as the Braves beat the Pirates, 6-1, at Truist Park on Friday night. The 40-year-old hurler also earned his first career win against his longtime employer and has now beaten every MLB team.

“That’s incredible,” Braves catcher Sean Murphy said. “I don’t know how many guys have done that, but the list is probably pretty short.”

Morton is the 22nd pitcher to do it since the D-backs and Rays became MLB’s most recent teams in 1998. The only other active pitchers to beat all 30 teams are Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander.

“It’s special,” Morton said, while acknowledging someone had told him last year that the Pirates were the only team he hadn’t tallied a win against.

Morton debuted for the Braves in 2008 and was traded to the Pirates the following summer. He made 142 of his 367 career starts for Pittsburgh. Friday marked just his second career start against the Buccos. And with retirement a possibility at the end of this year, it may have been his last.

To add to the significance of this achievement, Morton notched this win with the help of Jesse Chavez, another 40-year-old hurler, who debuted for the Pirates in 2008. Chavez tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Morton and now has an incredible 1.32 ERA over 34 innings this season.

“He threw the heck out of the ball tonight,” Morton said while wearing a T-shirt adorned with an image of Chavez.

This hadn’t been the best week for Atlanta, which lost two of three in St. Louis and then dropped a makeup game against the White Sox on Thursday in Chicago. But Riley helped turn the tide in the second inning when he homered for the sixth time in his past 14 games. Marcell Ozuna added to Pirates starter Martín Pérez’s woes when he cleared the bases with a double in the Braves’ five-run fifth.

Morton gained the early lead and preserved it as he allowed just three hits over his 6 1/3 scoreless innings. This marked the third time he has not surrendered a run over at least six frames this year. The only Braves pitchers aged 40 or older to do this more times in one season are Hall of Famers Warren Spahn (seven times in 1963 and five in ‘61) and Phil Niekro (seven in ‘81 and four in ‘82).

“You can’t put a price on those innings,” Murphy said. “You kind of know what you’re going to get out of Chuck. He’s going to show up, pitch his butt off, grind for the guys and get through those innings. That was a fun outing for him today. I like when Chuck has it working. It’s a fun game to call.”

Reynaldo López’s 1.70 ERA would rank as MLB’s best if he didn’t currently fall two outs shy of qualifying to be ranked among the league leaders. Chris Sale is tied for the second-best fWAR among National League pitchers (3.0). Max Fried has a 2.12 ERA over his past 13 starts. Each of these three Braves pitchers could receive All-Star and Cy Young Award consideration.

Morton hasn’t pitched to that elite level, but while producing a 3.89 ERA, he has done enough to justify the Braves picking up his $20 million option for this season. The veteran hurler has pitched into the sixth inning in 12 of 15 starts, including each of his first seven starts. That’s quality production from a fourth starter, especially one that would have been the fifth starter had Spencer Strider remained healthy.

With Strider sidelined and the Braves wanting to regularly create extra rest for Sale and López, the organization’s starting pitching depth has been tested. Morton’s ability to consistently eat innings has helped compensate for the inconsistency that has existed beyond the rotation’s first four spots.

Morton thought his career might be over when the Pirates essentially dumped him after the 2015 season. But he won a World Series with the Astros two years later and another with the Braves in ‘21. At 40, he’s still earning nothing but praise from those around him.

“It’s almost like, 'What are we going to do without him?'” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s hard to replace Charlie.”