The mysterious uptick in Charlie Morton’s velocity didn’t return in the first inning today. His four-seam fastball was 93.3 to 94.6 mph against leadoff hitter Jarren Duran and topped at 94.7. And his third strikeout came on a curveball to Trevor Story, a pitch that produced only one out in his Orioles debut in Toronto.
If Morton was getting back to normal, he couldn’t enjoy it. Rafael Devers walked with one out in the first and Alex Bregman hit the next pitch, a sinker, to deep left field for a quick Red Sox lead.
Wilyer Abreu led off the second with a full-count walk, Kristian Campbell also worked the count full, and Morton hung a curveball that was launched to left at a distance of 389 feet.
The new dimensions in left aided Campbell. Bregman’s ball traveled 397 feet and didn’t need the benefit of a drawn-in wall. But both swings stung the Orioles in an 8-4 loss to the Red Sox before an announced crowd of 16,656 at Camden Yards that dropped them below .500 heading into their next road trip.
Morton struck out 10 batters in five innings, four short of his career high and the 28th time that he’s reached double digits, and he exited with his pitch count at 98. He allowed five runs and six hits and walked two batters, and his ERA is 9.72 in two starts with the Orioles.