Charlie Morton is done for the night after throwing six innings of one-run ball in his Detroit Tigers debut. His offense didn't do him any favors so Morton is on the hook for a loss, but the 41 year-old was stellar in his first start as a Tiger, stifling the powerful Phillies offense with six strikeouts, four hits and one walk.
Morton, who the Tigers acquired from the Orioles at the trade deadline, also got a pretty clear message from his new manager A.J. Hinch in the sixth inning: I trust you. With one out in the fifth, Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber stepped to the plate to begin the third time through the lineup for the Phillies. It would have been a fine time for Hinch to pull Morton at that point; he didn't. Morton gave up a hard-hit double to Schwarber.
Still, Hinch didn't pull him. After an intentional walk to Bryce Harper, Morton got J.T. Realmuto to ground out and then Nick Castellanos to fly out to right field, completing a quality start for Morton.
Hinch likes to live on the edge, and sometimes it pays off. Tonight it did, and it accomplished two things at once; it saved an inning of work from his bullpen, and showed his new starter that he believes in him to get the job done. This is how to set a tone with a new addition.
Charlie Morton just set the bar high for his tenure with Tigers
Whether Morton can be this reliable every time he toes the rubber for Detroit... is a question we can't answer yet. But so far, so good for Morton in Detroit. Even if he takes the loss tonight, fans should be encouraged by what they say. He just happened to face off against Christopher Sanchez, who might have a legit Cy Young case in the NL, and Sanchez bowled over the Tigers lineup all night long.