Morton (5-6) took the loss Friday, coughing up seven runs (five earned) on six hits -- including three home runs -- on a walk over 2.2 innings in an 8-4 loss to the Mets. He struck out two.
After holding New York off the board through the first two frames, Morton fell apart in the third and served up a grand slam to J.D. Martinez, a two-run shot to Mark Vientos and a solo blast to Francisco Alvarez before getting the hook. It's the third time in four July starts the veteran right-hander has been taken deep multiple times, a stretch in which he's stumbled to a 5.31 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 16:4 K:BB through 20.1 innings. Morton will try to turn things around in his next trip to the mound, which lines up to come on the road next week in Milwaukee.