Pirates Hand Phillies 4th Straight Loss 6-3

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Charlie Morton pitched seven solid innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates sent the Philadelphia Phillies to their fourth consecutive loss, 6-3 Saturday night.

Andrew McCutchen and Lyle Overbay each had three hits and Brandon Wood homered for Pittsburgh (28-29), which has won four of five and could complete a sweep of first-place Philadelphia on Sunday to reach .500.

Morton was 2-12 with a 7.57 ERA last season as the Pirates lost 105 games. But he has won four of his past five decisions to improve to 6-2. His ERA stands at 2.52 -- fourth in the NL—after allowing a total of six earned runs over his past five starts.

Morton was charged with two runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts Saturday, his trademark sinker inducing 11 groundball outs to only two outfield putouts.

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