If you thought you hadn’t heard much about Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, you’d be right. The 29-year-old, who has had a top-five finish in NL MVP Award balloting in each of the last four seasons (including a first place finish in 2013), entered Tuesday’s game in Colorado batting a meager .213/.337/.347 with a pair of homers and five RBI in 89 plate appearances.
McCutchen fixed that lackluster slugging percentage quickly, blasting three home runs against the Rockies. The first was a solo shot off of Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa to stake the Pirates to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. He added another solo shot off of De La Rosa in the second inning to push the Pirates’ lead to 4-0, then swatted a three run shot to right field off of Christian Bergman in the sixth inning, pushing the Pirates’ lead to 7-3.
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).
Following the 3-for-5 performance on Tuesday, McCutchen now has five home runs, 10 RBI, and a .237/.351/.475 triple-slash line.