Morrison posts more zeros for South Bend

Preston Morrison learned early in his first full season with Class A South Bend that he wasn't pitching to his strengths. That earned him to a 6.11 ERA over his first four starts.

"I've become more of myself," the Cubs right-hander said. "At the beginning of the season, I was trying to be a pitcher that I wasn't. Just sitting down and looking at a bit of video, I realized I was being too fine and was throwing pitches in spots where I normally wouldn't. I realized I needed to be more of myself and start making the best pitches that I could in each outing.

"I was just being really passive and shying away from contact. I needed to get back to pounding the zone and trying to be as effective and efficient as possible."

But in his last two outings, all that has changed. Morrison matched his career high in innings Friday with his second consecutive seven-frame scoreless outing as Class A South Bend blanked Dayton, 4-0, at Fifth Third Field.

"Honestly, I didn't feel the best, stuff-wise," he said. "I threw a lot of ineffective pitches, but I realized that pretty early on, so I was just trying to let the sinker work down in the zone. If I had a chance to put anybody away, I was just aggressive with my off-speed."

Morrison (7-3) had a shaky start in the first inning after forcing Shane Mardirosian to ground out to first base. He surrendered Kevin Franklin's one-out infield single and then walked Shed Long before getting Juan Duran to bounce into a double play.

The 22-year-old righty gave up a leadoff infield single to James Vasquez in the second, fanned Reydel Medina and induced Luis Gonzalez to hit into another double play.

"[When in early jams,] I needed to realize that usually I'm not in a spot where I need to make perfect pitches," Morrison sinker-baller said. "I just have to trust my stuff and make pitches to get something like that double-play in the first inning."

He cruised through the third and then gave up a two-out single to Duran in the fourth. Medina became the last Dayton batter to reach against Morrison when he got aboard to lead off the fifth on a fielding error by second baseman Sutton Whiting.

Morrison was roughed up through his first four starts in April. He went 1-2 with a 6.11 ERA and a .342 average against over 17 2/3 innings. He improved dramatically in May, posting a 3-0 record in five appearances -- four starts -- with a 2.66 ERA and a .211 average against in 23 2/3 innings. Prior to Friday's gem, the Texas Christian University product was 2-1 with a 1.47 ERA in three June starts, holding batters to a .209 mark.

"A big thing for me was sharpening up my secondary pitches," he said. "I haven't had my slider for a while, but in the last two or three outings, I've gotten it back. I wasn't throwing enough strikes with it and I was never giving it a shot in counts where I needed it. In counts where I was going for a punchout, it was never [near the zone], so guys were just taking it. It was an ineffective pitch."

A sinkerballer by nature, Morrison relies on contact and precision to be effective. In the first month, he said he was wasting too much effort trying to avoid contact, which led to high pitch counts and subsequent early exits.  

"[I've been thriving] off keeping the ball down, just seeing how many pitches I can throw at the knees while just trying to be as effective as possible," he said. "I can never be guy who works into the fifth inning and be at 100 pitches. I need to force the action, get guys swinging and get the bats moving, using my defense."

South Bend relievers Scott Effross and Craig Brooks each tossed a scoreless inning and combined for three strikeouts.

Bryant Flete belted RBI triple in the fifth and P.J. Higgins went 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Cubs

Dayton's Austin Orewiler (1-6) gave up two runs on four hits and four walks while striking out five in four innings. Jesus Reyes followed with three innings of scoreless relief.