Andrew McCutchen’s homer, 9th-inning single boosts Brewers past Pirates for series sweep
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The applause for Andrew McCutchen had just ended when the cheering began again for the former Pittsburgh Pirates star after he hit Jose Quintana’s first pitch for his 19th career leadoff home run.
There were more heroics in store for McCutchen, who hit a bases-loaded single to give the Milwaukee Brewers the lead in the ninth inning.
The five-time All-Star and 2013 NL MVP went 3 for 4 with a walk and three RBIs to boost the Brewers to a 3-2 win Thursday afternoon before an announced crowd of 8,332 at PNC Park and sweep the three-game series.
“He had a good day,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of McCutchen. “He’s probably one of, if not the best player in the last 30 years in this organization.”
Without even knowing the numbers, McCutchen was aware that he had struggled against the Pirates. He was batting .136 (8 for 59) in 17 games since being traded to the San Francisco Giants in January 2018.
“That’s a feel thing. You don’t need to be told,” McCutchen said. “I’ve faced them a handful of times. I know I haven’t had great success against them. I know this is the first time I had three hits. Shoot, who knows the last time I had three hits in a game, not just against the Pirates. It’s pretty obvious for me.”
Andrew McCutchen was well aware he had struggled against his old team (batting .136 in 17 games against the Pirates) before the Brewers DH went 3 for 4 with three RBIs in a 3-2 win Thursday at PNC Park. pic.twitter.com/krGD9BBpLR
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) April 28, 2022
The Pirates spent six innings trailing by a run after McCutchen sent Quintana’s 90.1-mph fastball 355 feet into the left-field bleachers for his first homer of the season. It was his 93rd homer at PNC Park but first since September 2017, when he homered twice and had eight RBIs against Baltimore.
It was the only run Quintana allowed in five innings and just enough to prevent the Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander from ending a dubious streak by earning his first victory in almost three years.
Quintana hasn’t won since allowing four runs on five hits and two walks in five innings in a 10-5 win over the Brewers on Sept. 5, 2019. That’s a span of 18 starts. No Pirates starter has recorded a win this season. Per Elias Sports Bureau, the only other team to go 18 or more games into a season without a starting pitcher recording a victory was the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who started the season 0-21.
Shelton pulled Quintana after 4 2/3 innings in the 4-2 win over the Chicago Cubs last Friday, one out shy of qualifying for the decision. This time, he waited until the sixth inning, after Quintana had thrown 78 pitches (48 for strikes) and fanned nine without a walk.
Quintana hadn’t had that many strikeouts without a walk since Aug. 30, 2017, when the Cubs ran away with a 17-3 win over the Pirates. After McCutchen’s homer, Quintana struck out the next four batters and six of the next 10. He finished with 16 whiffs and 14 called strikes.
Quintana gave up three singles, to Mike Brosseau in the second, McCutchen in the third and Alex Jackson in the fifth. But none of those Brewers reached second base.
“I thought he was good,” Shelton said of Quintana. “I thought his changeup was really good. In control of the game. Was able to execute his fastball when he had to and use his changeup off it. I thought it was a really solid outing. With eight right-handed hitters in there, kept ‘em off-balance. First pitch of the game was hit for a homer, but other than that, I thought he did a good job and was in control.”
The Pirates didn’t muster much against Brewers starter Freddy Peralta until the sixth inning, when designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach hit a pop fly to second and advanced on a Bryan Reynolds line drive down the right-field line. But Peralta got Ke’Bryan Hayes to fly out end the rally.
The Brewers loaded the bases on two walks and a single against Heath Hembree in the seventh, but he struck out Willy Adames to escape the jam.
Peralta was pulled after six scoreless innings in which he allowed three hits and had seven strikeouts without a walk. The Pirates wasted no time getting to Brad Boxberger, as Ben Gamel hit a leadoff single, and Michael Chavis followed with a ground-rule double down the right-field line. Jack Suwinski grounded into a would-be double play, but Adames bobbled it and allowed Gamel to score the tying run. Diego Castillo’s sacrifice fly to center scored Chavis to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.
Taking the lead in the seventh energized the Pirates, who got another boost from David Bednar’s clean eighth inning that ended with Reynolds making a leaping catch against the center-field wall to rob Tyrone Taylor.
Chris Stratton blew the lead in the ninth, as pinch hitter Christian Yelich reached on a bunt single, Kolten Wong singled to right and pinch hitter Omar Narvaez singled to left to load the bases for McCutchen.
That brought it full circle for McCutchen, whose last homer at PNC Park was his first career grand slam against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 26, 2017. McCutchen ripped a single that ricocheted off the glove of a leaping second baseman Josh VanMeter and into right field to score Yelich and Wong for a 3-2 lead.
“Off the bat I thought he was gonna catch it,” Shelton said. “Just got the top of his glove is what it looked like live. Another inch or two down, we get a double play, and we’re out of the game.”
Instead, it was a two-run single that gave the Brewers the lead and caused McCutchen to turn to the visiting dugout and celebrate.
Andrew McCutchen talks about the sentimentality of homering at PNC Park for the first time since 2017 and going 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs in the Brewers’ 3-2 win over the Pirates. pic.twitter.com/8VCzixNHua
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) April 28, 2022
“Yeah, I haven’t done much against my old team,” McCutchen said. “This is probably the first time I’ve done well against the Pirates, not just here but just against them in general. It was a good game to show up, sleep in my own bed and get a W.”
This time, the crowd wasn’t cheering.