PITTSBURGH Charlie Morton had no expectations when he took the mound in a major league game for the first time in a month.
However, the Pittsburgh right-hander exceeded his manager's expectations as he came off the disabled list to gain his first victory since July 2, and the Pirates beat the Boston Red Sox 4-0 on Tuesday night for their ninth win in 11 games.
Sidelined since Aug. 16 because of right hip inflammation and a sports hernia, Morton (6-12) allowed four hits in five innings, struck out six and walked two. He had been 0-3 with a 5.09 ERA in his eight previous starts.
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Pittsburgh remained 1½ games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL's second wild card and moved within 2½ games of the St. Louis Cardinals, the NL Central leaders. The Cardinals lost 3-2 to the Brewers at home in 12 innings on Tuesday night.
Russell Martin hit a two-run homer in the second inning off rookie Anthony Ranaudo (3-3), and Starling Marte added a solo shot in the sixth. Travis Snider added an RBI single in the seventh against Tommy Layne
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Anthony Ranaudo has had one fundamental problem early in his major league career: keeping hitters in the ballpark.
The rookie right-hander gave up two home runs, and the Boston Red Sox lost 4-0 to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
Ranaudo (3-3) lost his third straight start, giving up three runs, four hits and three walks in 5 2-3 innings. He has allowed 10 home runs in his first six big league starts.
"There was a bad pitch in there to Martin and one to Marte," Ranaudo said. "If we look back at all my starts, the common theme is home runs. I obviously have to do a better job."
Martin's two-run homer in the second inning opened the scoring, and Marte's homer in the sixth made it 3-0. That sent Ranaudo to his third straight loss after he won his first three outings.
Boston RHP Clay Buchholz (8-8, 5.19) will look to win his fourth consecutive start Wednesday night when he faces LHP Francisco Liriano (5-10, 3.53), who is seeking to win his third straight outing. Buchholz has allowed four earned runs in 21 1-3 innings in his last three starts for a 1.66 ERA. Liriano pitched a combined 14 shutout innings while winning his last two starts.
Boston planned to recall CF Rusney Castillo from Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday night and he will make his major league debut. The Red Sox signed Castillo to a $72.5 million, seven-year contract on Aug. 22, the largest deal for a Cuban defector.
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