Pittsburgh Pirates Beat the Rockies 9-4 with Three Home Runs by Andrew McCutchen
On Monday, Andrew McCutchen, the face of the Pirates franchise, had his first rest day in 20 games – the last regular player to get such a spell and the one who seemed like he needed it the most.
Tonight, Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle is getting all sorts of gold stars for that decision as Cutch had himself a night at Coors Field, leading the Pirates to a 9-4 win over the Rockies with an astonishing three home run night.
Takeaways
- Our long national nightmare is over – Andrew McCutchen officially busted his dismal early-season hitting slump with a three home run night, two in successive at-bats (first and second innings) and the third in the 6th inning. The final homer, a three run-one at that, came at a time when the Rockies had come within one of the Bucs. This proves two, opposing points: 1.) the Pirates don’t need Cutch’s bat to win games and 2.) the Pirates do need Cutch’s bat to win games.
- Did someone say this team lacked power? We’ve talked about the Pirates playing small ball as a key to their winning this season – the power remaining in their 2016 line-up still somewhat overshadowed by what they “lost” in the offseason. But tonight, this team hit five home runs – three from McCutchen, one from third baseman David Freese in the first and one from left fielder Starling Marte in the sixth inning.
- Bonus: Two starting pitchers in back to back nights going for six. It is no secret that the Pirates bullpen was spent from their stint in Arizona and Locke and Cole having solid starts gave that shark tank some much-needed time to rest and recover.
Throwaways
- Brrr – At game time, the temperature at Coors Field was a chilly 43-degrees (“It’s a dry-cold” said Bucs announcer John Wehner) and the temps kept dropping, to a balmy 38-degrees by the time Cole pitched the sixth. At one point he threw a steady stream of fastballs, perhaps a reaction to the cold – maybe it’s because he’s a California guy, but his pitching is always crisper when the thermometer is soaring. Most of the players were seen blowing into their hands throughout the game, and warming themselves around the space heaters in the dugout during at-bats. There’s a reason they’re called the boys of summer.
- Flexibility at second – No complaints here on the overall performance of the Pirates new second baseman, but Josh Harrison bobbled a ball badly on a play early in the sixth, costing the team one or maybe two. And a few hits later in the same inning he struggled to recover an unsteady catch to get the out. He’s saved more than he’s lost, but constant vigilance is required when settling into a set position.
W – Gerrit Cole ( 2-2)
L – Jorge De La Rosa (1-3)
Line of the Night
Andrew McCutchen had himself a game. No other way to put it. After a day off yesterday, he stepped to the plate in the first and mashed his first of three home runs for the night, homering again in the second and the sixth. He entered the game hitting an abysmal .213/.337/.347 with two home runs in 89 at-bats. According to NBC Sports, “It’s the second three-homer game of McCutchen’s career. The other one came on August 1, 2009 against the Nationals. McCutchen is the fourth Pirate with two or more three-homer games, joining Willie Stargell (four), Ralph Kiner (four), and Roberto Clemente (two).”
Here is video of this third home run.
Your browser does not support iframes.
Up Next
The Pirates take on the Rockies for the third of this four game series at Coors Field at 8:40 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27. They’ll try to take the series in this game, with probable pitchers of Jon Niese (3-0) for the Pirates and Jon Gray making his season debut for the Rockies. The Pirates will enter the game three above .500 and second in the division behind the Cubs.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
