|
 McCutchen hit three home runs and drove in five runs Tuesday
night, leading the Pirates to a 9-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.
It was McCutchen's second career three-homer game. The other was
Aug. 1, 2009, against the Washington Nationals. He joined Hall of
Famers Willie Stargell and Ralph Kiner (four times apiece) and
Roberto Clemente (twice) as the only Pirates to have multiple
three-homer games.
"It's awesome to hit one homer, but to hit three, it's really cool,"
McCutchen said. "And just to be in those caliber of players is
tremendous. It's a good day to remember."
McCutchen hit as many homers Tuesday as the Atlanta Braves have hit
in 20 games this season. He has five home runs this year.
The Pirates, who have won seven straight games at Coors Field dating
to last season, won for the fifth time in six games. The Rockies
lost a season-high fourth consecutive game to fall to 1-4 on their
homestand.
 Mired in a 3-for-23 tailspin with 11 strikeouts, including four
Sunday while playing all 13 innings in a win at Arizona that took 5
hours, 25 minutes, McCutchen was given his first day off this season
in the series opener Monday.
"It is good just to know you're showing up at the ballpark and the
responsibility isn't to start the game that day," McCutchen said.
"It was good to have that day to sit back, relax, just clear my
mind."
McCutchen's homers went to three different fields. He hit a solo
homer to left in the first, a solo shot to center in the second and
a three-run blast to right in the sixth.
His final homer came off Christian Bergman and expanded the Pirates'
lead from 4-3 to 7-3. Two batters later, Starling Marte hit a solo
shot off Gonzalez Germen for an insurance run.
In the fifth, with Pittsburgh ahead 4-2, the Rockies loaded the
bases with one out against Gerrit Cole (2-2). The right-hander
struck out Carlos Gonzalez on a 96 mph fastball. Nolan Arenado
followed with a run-scoring single, but left fielder Marte threw out
Gerardo Parra at the plate to end the inning. The Rockies challenged
the call, but it was confirmed.
"No bigger play tonight than Marte throwing out the guy at home
plate," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "You look at the momentum
switch. It's a 4-3 ballgame. It would be 4-4. We score four the next
inning and create separation."
Cole worked six innings and gave up four runs, two earned. He threw
103 pitches, 73 of them fastballs and most precisely located. That
was by design, particularly after McCutchen and David Freese hit
back-to-back homers in the first and McCutchen connected in the
second off Jorge De La Rosa (1-3) to give the Pirates an early 4-0
lead.
"The game plan was to use a lot of fastballs," Cole said.
"Especially with a lead, you don't want to be messing around with
breaking balls at this place, especially when everybody's late on
(the) fastball."
The Pirates hit five homers. It was the most homers by the Pirates
since they belted six on April 14, 2014, at Cincinnati.
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De La Rosa, who departed the clubhouse before reporters entered,
left the game after the third with a left groin strain that he
sustained running to first in that inning. He struck out five but
allowed four runs and three homers, and his ERA climbed to 10.18 in
five starts.
This was the second time this season De La Rosa has yielded three
homers in a game at Coors Field, something he had never done before
this year.
"What difference I've seen is the fastball is not coming out the way
it was," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "The changeup is still a
real good pitch. That's why he got some strikeouts. We'll see how he
shows up tomorrow."
McCutchen's multi-homer game was the 10th of his career. He entered
the game with two homers in his first 89 plate appearances this
season and three homers in 112 career plate appearances at Coors
Field.
With a chance at a record-tying fourth homer, McCutchen grounded out
in the eighth inning, but he said he wasn't trying to again go deep.
He has finished in the top five in the National League Most Valuable
Player voting each of the past four seasons and won the award in
2013. So the .213 (16-for-75) average McCutchen brought into the
game wasn't weighing on him.
"It's about the process," McCutchen said. "And in that process, I
had progress. It's not like I felt myself getting worse. I felt
myself getting better and better and better and knew it was just a
matter of time. It's April. It's not even May yet."
NOTES: Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen is the 10th opposing player to
hit three homers in a game at Coors Field, a feat accomplished 11
times. The last opposing player to do it was New York Mets OF Yoenis
Cespedes on Aug. 21, 2015. ... The Pirates have had 10 different
players hit three home runs in a game a total of 18 times in
franchise history. ... Rockies SS Trevor Story was not in the lineup
for the first time this season. ... Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon
(turf toe, left foot) played six innings and went 0-for-4 for high
Class A Modesto at Visalia in the first of two rehab games. If all
goes well, he could be activated at Arizona on Friday when he is
eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list.
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