The Pittsburgh Pirates used the home run ball to their advantage last night as they hit five home runs on their way to defeating the Colorado Rockies 9-4. Andrew McCutchen provided most of the pop hitting three home runs on the evening.
Andrew McCutchen had the best night of his season for the Pirates last night as he went 3 for 5 with three home runs and five RBI in the Pirates 9-4 win over the Colorado Rockies. With his average sitting at a measly .211 coming into the game, many fans were asking when we would see the breakout numbers we are used to from McCutchen.
Well that happened last night as he got the best of Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa hitting two of his three home runs off the starter. The Pirates added two more home runs and some clutch hitting to get the 9-4 victory. They pounded on De La Rosa and reliever Christian Bergman for seven runs on eight hits through a combined 5.2 innings pitched.
Gerrit Cole did not have his best stuff going on the day, but did just enough to pick up the victory in the ball game. He went 6.0 innings giving up four runs, two earned, on eight hits while walking two and striking out three on the night. In the early going, Cole has not been the dominant pitcher he was last season, but the offense has scored him some runs as of late and it has helped him tremendously.
The scoring started right away with McCutchen's first home run of the night, a solo shot that gave the Pirates an early 1-0 lead. That was followed up quickly as the next batter, David Freese, hit his first Pirates home run and cushioned the lead to 2-0 Pirates. The Pirates hit back-to-back home runs for the second time this season as Gregory Polanco and Sean Rodriguez went back-to-back in the first game against Arizona.
The scoring would continue in the first as after a walk to Francisco Cervelli and Jason Rogers getting hit by a pitch, the Pirates had first and second with two outs. Josh Harrison would come through in a big way with an RBI single that scored Cervelli and gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead. The inning would end on a strikeout by Polanco as the Pirates sent eight men to the plate in the first inning.
The scoring would continue for the Pirates in the top of the second inning after a strikeout by Cole ad a groundout by Jordy Mercer gave the Pirates two outs. Then McCutchen stepped up and hit his second home run of the night, a 430 foot blast to left center field, that gave the Pirates a commanding 4-0 lead.
The Rockies would respond in the bottom of the second as Ben Paulson singled and moved up to second on a passed ball by Cervelli. A ground out by DJ LeMahieu moved Paulson up to third and he later scored on an RBI single by Brandon Barnes to cut the Pirates lead to 4-1. The Rockies would add another run in the bottom of the fourth as Nolan Arenado hit his eighth home run of the season to cut the lead to 4-2.
The Rockies almost crawled back into this game as they threatened again in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Bergman and Gerrardo Parra singled and Christhian Adams walked to load the bases for Colorado. Cole almost got out of the inning as he struck out Carlos Gonzalez for the second out, but Arenado singled to left scoring Bergman and cutting the lead to 4-3. The Rockies almost tied it at four but Starling Marte threw Parra out at the plate. The play was challenged and upheld and the Pirates kept their 4-3 lead.
That would all change the very next inning as a Polanco double and a Mercer walk set-up McCutchen with one out and runners at first and second. McCutchen proceeded to hit his third home run of the night, a three-run blast to right field, to extend the Pirates lead to 7-3. Then Starling Marte capped off the inning with a solo home run of his own to give the Pirates an 8-3 lead.
Each team would score one more time in the contest to make the final score 9-4. The Pirates bullpen has been struggling as of late, but last night pitched very well. Arquimides Caminero, who picked up his first major league save in his last outing, pitched a scoreless inning while walking two batters on the night.
He was followed up by Neftali Feliz, who blew a save his last time out. Feliz rebounded last night with a scoreless inning of work while walking one and striking out one. The game was finished by Rob Scahill who had a bounce back outing himself throwing 1.0 inning giving up no runs and walking a batter. The victory improved the Pirates record to 12-9 on the season and has them in second place in the National League Central.
McCutchen's special night landed him in exclusive company in Pirates baseball history. He now joins Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, and Ralph Kiner as the only three Pirates players with multiple three home run games. The first time McCutchen hit three home runs in a game was back on August 1, 2009 when he accomplished the feat against the Washington Nationals.
The Pirates and Rockies will play game three of their four game series tonight at Coors Field. For the Rockies, Jon Gray (0-0 9.00) will take the mound. Last time out Gray faced the Los Angeles Dodgers and gave up five runs on seven hits over 5.0 innings of work while walking two and striking out 10. The Pirates will oppose with Jon Niese (3-0 4.24). Niese has had a good season so far and looks to continue that tonight. Last time he took the mound he went 5.1 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks and gave up four runs on 10 hits while walking two and striking out two. First pitch for game three of this series is scheduled for 8:40 p.m.
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