Nothing is going right these days for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have followed a rare trip above .500 with six consecutive losses featuring the kind of ineptitude that was prevalent as they lost 105 games in 2010.
The starter who was as bad as anyone last season, though, has looked nothing like his old self.Charlie Morton looks to continue his surprising turnaround -- and snap the visiting Pirates out of their latest funk -- as he faces the Washington Nationals on Tuesday afternoon looking for his third straight win.Pittsburgh (18-23) climbed above .500 at its latest point since 2004 on May 9, but any optimism after finishing with baseball's worst record last season has disappeared over the past week.The Pirates proceeded to drop their next five games without ever leading before scoring a run in the first inning Monday at Washington. But they ran themselves into a pair of critical outs in the fourth inning, went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and eventually lost 4-2 thanks to Danny Espinosa's two-run homer in the seventh."I just call it things not going our way -- that's all," center fielder Andrew McCutchen said after the Pirates' average with runners in scoring position fell to .195 during their skid."The opportunity was definitely there -- more than once or twice."A year ago at this time, Morton (4-1, 3.13 ERA) would have been the last pitcher Pittsburgh wanted to send to the mound looking to break out of a slump.But the right-hander's 1-9 record and major league-worst 9.35 ERA during his first 10 starts of 2010 seem like a distant memory. Morton has made four starts where he's gone at least six innings while allowing just one run, and he went 7 2/3 in his latest strong outing, a 6-1 win over Houston on May 7.Morton, whose sinker has helped him lead the league in ground-ball percentage (77.4), has doubled his win total from last season and won consecutive starts for the first time in his career."When my mechanics are right, I can throw all my pitches for strikes," said Morton, who pitched two innings Thursday against the Dodgers before the game was rained out. "Not just the sinker, but the curveball and the changeup and everything."Morton is 0-2 with a 5.59 ERA in a pair of starts against the Nationals (20-21).The way to beat Morton is with left-handed hitting. He's allowed righties to hit a mere .161, but southpaws are batting .404 against him. The Nationals, though, are hitting a major league-worst .212 from the left side of the plate.Washington starters, meanwhile, have a 2.40 ERA in the nation's capital and 17 quality starts in 20 games, patterns Jordan Zimmermann (2-4, 4.13) will try to continue.The right-hander was excellent on the road in his last outing, but the Nationals bullpen couldn't hang on. Zimmermann struck out 11 and surrendered three runs over 6 1/3 innings Thursday in Atlanta, but Martin Prado's grand slam sparked the Braves, who won 6-5 in 10 innings."I felt great all night," said Zimmermann, who has never faced Pittsburgh. "Everything was working."One Pirate who has seen Zimmermann is former Brave Matt Diaz. The outfielder, who hit cleanup Monday despite sporting a .233 average with no home runs, is 2 for 3 with a homer and double against Zimmermann.

WASHINGTON -130 *6U