Andrew McCutchen's sacrifice fly in 8th inning lifts Pirates to win over A's
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Andrew McCutchen was only three knocks shy of reaching the 2,000-hit milestone, but the Pittsburgh Pirates star settled instead for drawing three walks, including one with the bases loaded.
When he came to bat with the game tied and a runner in scoring position in the eighth inning, McCutchen delivered a sacrifice fly that secured a 5-4 win over the Oakland A’s on Monday night before 11,566 at PNC Park.
“It’s inevitable I’m going to get it. At some point, I will, so I’m not stressing about it at all,” McCutchen said of the milestone. “I’m not trying to do overdo it or do too much or start chasing just because I’m trying to get three more hits. I’m just trying to stay within myself, understand the situation and put together good at-bats. If I don’t get a pitch to hit, I’ll take my walk. Nothing changes in my approach.”
McCutchen’s unselfish approach wasn’t lost on the Pirates (32-27), who won their sixth consecutive game and moved a half-game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers (32-28) for first place in the NL Central.
“We’ve been talking about the 2,000 for a while and the question keeps coming up, ‘Do people press when they get close?’” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I think that just shows you how good of a player he is, because not only is he not seeking the 2,000, it’s the fact that he’s such a team player that he’s taking the same at-bats he has all year.”
Lefty reliever Angel Perdomo (1-0) got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning to earn his first career victory, and Colin Holderman struck out Carlos Perez with runners on the corners in the ninth for his first career save. The Pirates drew 10 walks in handing the A’s (12-50) their fifth consecutive loss, 12th in their past 14 and 24th in 28 games.
Oakland has 15 consecutive road losses but jumped out to an early three-run lead. The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when leadoff batter Esteury Ruiz reached on catcher’s interference by Austin Hedges, then stole second base and scored when Ryan Noda drove Oviedo’s 2-2 fastball down the middle for a single to center.
The Pirates had a pair of runners on in each of the first two innings but came away empty, as A’s lefty JP Sears allowed four walks without a hit while working out of jams.
McCutchen drew a leadoff walk and Connor Joe walked with one out, but Sears got Carlos Santana to line out to left and Rodolfo Castro to pop up to first to end the first inning. Ji Hwan Bae and Mark Mathias drew back-to-back, full-count walks, then executed a double steal, but Hedges went down looking and McCutchen popped up to catcher Carlos Perez in foul territory to end the second.
The A’s also stranded two runners in scoring position in the second, when Jonah Bride singled and Oviedo hit Jace Peterson with a pitch before getting a groundout and fly out.
But Oakland added two more runs in the third, which started with a Noda walk and Oviedo hitting Brent Rooker. Seth Brown followed with an RBI double to center to score Noda, and Carlos Perez hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Rooker for a 3-0 A’s lead. JJ Bleday lined out to Carlos Santana, who turned a double play by throwing acros the diamond to Ke’Bryan Hayes at third to get Brown.
The Pirates didn’t get a hit off Sears until his 89th pitch, when Mathias singled to left to start the fifth inning. After Mathias stole second and McCutchen walked, Joe hit a two-out bloop to shallow right that glanced off the glove of second baseman Peterson for a double that scored Mathias to cut it to 3-1.
A’s manager Mark Kotsay pulled Sears after he gave up two hits and five walks with six strikeouts on 112 pitches in 4⅔ innings. Righty reliever Lucas Erceg walked Santana to load the bases, then struck out Castro to end the inning.
After Hayes singled off Erceg to start the sixth, the Pirates drew four consecutive walks. Richard Lovelady walked Mathias and Hedges to load the bases before the A’s turned to Shintaro Fujinami, whose first pitch was high and inside and sent McCutchen tumbling to the dirt.
“He gets a fastball at his head at like 90 and gets in a weird position,” Shelton said, “and is able to compose himself.”
After Fujinami recovered from a 3-0 count to work a full count, McCutchen drew a walk to score Hayes and cut it to 3-2.
“I understand the situation there. I know we need to get that run in,” McCutchen said. “Just trying to bear down. I know he’s a hard thrower. Just try to get that run in as much as I could.”
Reynolds also drew a full-count walk to score Mathias and tie the game. Jack Suwinski got a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to right to score Hedges for a 4-3 lead as Ruiz threw to third and caught McCutchen between the bases.
Oviedo delivered a quality start in matching his career-best by going seven innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five on 100 pitches.
In the eighth, lefty Rob Zastryzny gave up a leadoff walk to Rooker and a game-tying double to pinch hitter Aledmys Diaz that made it 4-4. After Zastryzny walked Shea Langeliers, Perdomo came in but hit Bride to load the bases before striking out Peterson and getting Nick Allen to fly out to center to leave the runners stranded.
Bae started the eighth with a single to short, where Allen bobbled the ball, raced to third when Hedges lined a single to left and scored on McCutchen’s sacrifice fly to right for a 5-4 lead.
“I told him that might have been the best (plate appearance) I’ve ever seen my whole career,” Hedges said. “To walk in that situation after a guy throws 100 mph at your head, to foul pitches off with that guy’s stuff and then the 3-2 take – that’s why you’re an MVP. That’s why he’s Andrew McCutchen.”
With closer David Bednar unavailable after pitching three consecutive days, Shelton turned to Holderman in the ninth. Ruiz hit a leadoff single but was thrown out while attempting to steal second base when Hedges made a perfect throw to shortstop Tucupita Marcano.
“Everybody in the ballpark knows Ruiz is running,” Shelton said. “I mean, he’s got about a 35-foot lead. I can tell you from being a catcher, when everyone knows you’re gonna run and you’re getting a pitch and you have to execute it to be able to make that throw the way did, and then Tuc’s tag was unbelievable.”
Holderman gave up a ground-rule double to Noda and a single to Rooker, but got Diaz to fly out to center and struck out Perez to clinch his first save.
But it came down to Cutch in the clutch.
“I felt like I was the right man for those situations,” McCutchen said. “I happened to be there. I look forward to those. I invite those chances, those situations. You don’t get many of them. When the time comes, I bear down. I do my best to try and get that run in. There’s nothing like being able to come through and get the job done. So, to be able to do it a couple times was rewarding.”
Source: TribLIVE
