Andrew McCutchen blast gives Pirates walk-off win over Diamondbacks
Associated Press
Teammates prepare to mob Andrew McCutchen after his walk-off home run off Arizona relief pitcher Archie Bradley Monday in Pittsburgh.
Arizona Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt watches the flight of his home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 14. Goldschmidt has found himself in the middle of past bad blood between the two teams
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Andrew McCutchen hit a walk-off home run as the Pirates completed a comeback and won 4-3 in a back-and-forth game with the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday afternoon at PNC Park.
McCutchen hit his eighth home run of the season to win the game in the ninth after closer Tony Watson blew a save by conceding a two-run home run in the top of the inning.
Since being sat for two games against the Atlanta Braves and moving to No. 6 in the batting order, McCutchen is 5 for 14 (.357) with two home runs and four RBIs. McCutchen was benched for a series in Atlanta last season too, and although he improved after that down the stretch, he didn鈥檛 think the two things were related. This year, it鈥檚 a different story.
鈥淟ast year I said the time off in Atlanta, that didn鈥檛 do anything for me,鈥� McCutchen said after the win. 鈥淭his time it did. Being able to have those couple days did help me. I don鈥檛 know what it is about Atlanta. I鈥檓 feeling good, feeling better and having more consistent at-bats.鈥�
McCutchen said that he took the time off 鈥� which was added to by a long rain delay 鈥� to escape the day-to-day grind of the long season and just get in the cage and work.
MORE ADVERSITY STRIKES
The Pirates players have dealt with a laundry list of adverse situations this season from the mundane such as injuries and ineffective players lost to a suspension, a visa issue or a potentially life-threatening medical condition.
More of that was heaped on Monday, as starting right fielder Gregory Polanco and catcher Chris Stewart both left the game with injuries.
Polanco sprained his right ankle in a collision with the railing in foul ground in right field in the sixth inning. X-rays were negative, but Polanco was in a walking boot after the game. Stewart has a strain in his left hamstring or calf and hopes it鈥檚 minor, but he will also have to wait for further medical testing to be sure.
鈥淚t鈥檚 next guy up,鈥� McCutchen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always next guy up. You hate for guys to go down, but it happens in this game. We鈥檝e got guys that can pick up guys when they go down. The next guy up can pick them up. [Jose] Osuna came into the game and got two hits. That shows the type of team that we have. We have to scratch away and keep going. If we keep doing that, we end up being able to win a game. We did it today and hopefully we can continue that.鈥�
Manager Clint Hurdle thought that his club showed something by coming back after the dual setbacks of injury and the Diamondbacks tying the game.
鈥淲e鈥檙e fighting and scratching as evidenced today,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat game for us to get tied up like that, turn around and flip it, there鈥檚 a lot of grit in the clubhouse.鈥�
BAD BLOOD
Things between the Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks have been contentious for quite some time.
The most recent development occurred on May 13 when Chris Iannetta was hit in the head by a Johnny Barbato fastball in Arizona. The bad blood goes back to August of 2014, when Arizona star Paul Goldschmidt and McCutchen were both injured while being hit by pitches.
But it鈥檚 gone on for so long that it鈥檚 taken something on something of a life of its own. In 2016, Arquimedes Caminero hit two Diamondbacks and was ejected, Evan Marshall hit David Freese and Arizona general manager Tony LaRussa barged into the Pittsburgh radio booth and accosted Pirates play-by-play man for his criticism.
With the turnover level in Major League Baseball, it鈥檚 hard to find players in either clubhouse that were even around in 2014. Barbato was in Double-A with San Antonio, two organizations removed from his Pirates tenure. Iannetta was with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Current Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was a bench coach with the Boston Red Sox. He seems intent on keeping things more civil going forward.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know enough of the history and I don鈥檛 want to speculate on anything,鈥� Lovullo said. 鈥淚 do know one thing, that if it becomes an epidemic and the league gets involved, they take care of that kind of thing. 鈥� I鈥檒l put it to rest and say that (Barbato hitting Iannetta) was just a pitch that got away.鈥�
Hurdle, a veteran of the nearly three-year battle, had less to say.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care to talk about it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to get outs, they鈥檙e trying to get outs. Sometimes, things have happened that nobody likes at the end of the day.鈥�
Starting pitcher Trevor Williams hit two Diamondbacks, one in each the first and second innings. The first was a slider that bounced before striking David Peralta. There was no attempt at retribution from the Diamondbacks.