Andrew McCutchen collected his 2,000th Major League hit on Sunday afternoon, bringing the 26,000 plus crowd at PNC Park to its feet. A couple hours later, the fans were on their feet again, celebrating a Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2-1 victory over the New York Mets.
McCutchen’s accomplishment was well-deserved and appropriately-acknowledged on Sunday, but for Andrew and the rest of the team (and the fans), the focus quickly turned to winning the game.
Mitch Keller was impressive on the mound for Pittsburgh, giving up one run on two hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in seven innings. He improved his record to 8-2 while lowering his ERA to 3.41 on the season. Dauri Moreta pitched one scoreless inning while David Bednar notched his 14th save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
Carlos Corrasco pitched for New York, giving up two runs on six hits in 4.2 innings, while losing his third game of the season. The Mets used three relievers and kept the game close throughout.
Jeff McNeil broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a solo homerun to right field. It would be the lone run of the game for New York. Jack Suwinski tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a solo homerun, his 13th of the season, to right field. Later in the inning, Tucupita Marcano hit what would end up being the game-winning single to right field, scoring Ji Hwan Bae to make it 2-1.
Bednar did make things a little interesting in the ninth inning, giving up a one-out double to Tommy Pham. But he was able to retired the next two batters, Brett Baty and Mark Canha, to end the game.
This was a feel-good game all around for Pittsburgh. McCutchen has been and still is beloved in this city, and Sunday afternoon gave the crowd the opportunity to pay him well-deserved respect and admiration. As for Keller, after a few rough starts on the bump, he returned to the form from earlier in the season that had him in the conversion as one of the league’s best pitchers. This was the perfect way to end the home stand and send this team on the road with some momentum.
With the victory on Sunday, the Bucs took the series against the Mets while finishing off a successful 6-3 home stand. They will now hit the road for a road trip against the N.L. Central, beginning on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs.
Record vs. Mets: 2-1
Record vs. N.L. East: 4-2
Record at Home: 18-16
Overall Record: 34-30
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
