First Call: Ex-Pirate Charlie Morton is postseason star; Marc-Andre Fleury wins Vegas opener

In “First Call” Thursday, another postseason ex-Pirate moment. Marc-Andre Fleury’s 2019 is off to a good start in Vegas. Jon Gruden is mad about Vontaze Burfict’s suspension.

Clutch Chuck

Former Pirate Charlie Morton already has a World Series Game 7 win to his credit.

He did that for the Houston Astros in 2017. He also had a Game 7 ALCS win for them that year.

Well, add a do-or-die wild-card game victory to his resume as well. “Ground Chuck” did that for the Tampa Bay Rays last night as they won in Oakland 5-1.

5 IP
0 ER#StayHungry pic.twitter.com/3f1bqWD7i5

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 3, 2019

The right-hander tossed five innings allowing five hits, three walks and one unearned run before giving way to the bullpen.

The Oakland A’s left nine men on base in the loss.

So what’s next?

The ex-Pirates theme will continue in the ALDS as Morton and the Rays face his most recent team.

Former Bucco Tyler Glasnow starts Game 1 for Tampa. He’ll be opposed by the Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander at 2:05 p.m. Friday.

Glasnow suffered a forearm strain in May after a strong start. But he came back just as good in September. He ended up posting a 1.78 ERA in 12 games this year.

The Astros will throw Gerrit Cole in Game 2. All he did was strikeout 326 people this year.

But, hey, Steven Brault is a good hitter and can sing. So the Pirates are just fine.

While we are at it

Another familiar face in his new place got his season off to a good start last night.

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury won the season opener for the Vegas Golden Knights. They beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1.

The former Penguins Stanley Cup winner only had to make 21 saves along the way. Fellow former Penguin and current teammate Ryan Reaves had five hits. Another one-time Penguin, Deryk Engelland, was plus-one.

Gruden is grumpy

Jon Gruden is mad in Oakland.

The Raiders coach is upset that the NFL has suspended his linebacker, Vontaze Burfict, for the whole season for this hit on Sunday in Indianapolis.

Raiders Vontaze Burfict out for the year after a helmet-to-helmet hit during yesterday's Raiders-Colts game. Burfict was ejected from the game. Now he's been handed the longest punishment for an on-field act in NFL history. #VontazeBurfict #raiders #nfl pic.twitter.com/qgF2io60uI

— Anthony Leong (@anthonyleong83) September 30, 2019

Via NFL.com, “I’m not really gonna say anything,” Gruden said during Wednesday’s press conference. “I’ve talked to [NFL vice president of football operations Jon] Runyan and the league office, he knows how I feel. It hurts our team really bad. I’m anxious to see what the appeal says. I’m not happy about it — at all. I don’t want to say anything else, I’m obviously upset about it.”

Sorry, Chucky. Burfict is a menace and should’ve been kicked out of the league a long time ago. His track record?

In seven seasons with the Bengals, Burfict was fined 11 times and suspended three times for a combined 10 games.

This is just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Before the camel could break someone’s neck.

Knock on wood if you’re with me.

Kicking concerns

The New England Patriots are 4-0. But not everything is perfect.

The franchise had to put long-time kicker Stephen Gostkowski on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury.

Despite making four Pro Bowls, Gostkowski has struggled this year. He has one field goal miss and has shanked four extra points.

The Patriots worked out veteran kickers Mike Nugent and Kai Forbath on Wednesday.