Hey — don’t blame this one on Eli Morgan. Cleveland’s current ace pitched a stellar five innings of baseball tonight before the Third Time Through the Order monster ate him alive.
The Cubs’ only baserunner through those five innings wasn’t there long. Kris Bryant’s fourth-inning home run was Morgan’s only blemish until the sixth as he worked his four-seam, slider, changeup combination to perfection. The changeup in particular — the pitch that will make or break Morgan as a major-league pitcher — was either swung and missed on or called a strike 50% of the time in his full five innings (plus several batters) of work.