McCutchen homers for 4-3 win
PITTSBURGH — Andrew McCutchen has never hit so low in the lineup, and his .215 batting average makes it easy to understand why he’s there.
The face of the Pittsburgh Pirates still has some fireworks in his bat, though.
McCutchen led off the ninth with a home run to right field, lifting the Pirates over the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 in a wild ending Monday.
McCutchen sent a 1-1 pitch from Archie Bradley (1-1) over the right field wall to cap a back-and-forth ninth. Arizona’s Chris Iannetta had tied it moments earlier with a two-run homer to left off closer Tony Watson.
“Crazy ballgame,” Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle said. “Absolutely crazy.”
“It’s part of the game that makes it so great,” said Arizona manager Torey Lovullo. “You experience a high, and five minutes later the game’s over and you come crawling back here.”
It was the eighth homer this season for McCutchen, who was recently benched for two games and dropped to sixth in the batting order for the first time in his career. Since getting back in the lineup, McCutchen is 5 for 14 with a pair of home runs.
“Being able to have those couple days did help me,” McCutchen said. “I’m feeling good, feeling better and having more consistent at-bats. “
Watson (4-1) was credited with the win after blowing his third save in 13 opportunities.
It was a costly victory for the Pirates, as starting right fielder Gregory Polanco left the game with a sprained right ankle. X-rays were negative and the Polanco will see a doctor before getting an update Tuesday. He got his ankle caught awkwardly in the railing separating the stands from the playing field while chasing down a foul ball in the sixth inning.
Before Iannetta tied it, backup catcher Chris Stewart drove a ball into the left-center gap for two runs and ended up with just the second triple of his career. Stewart had to leave the game after his hit with a left leg strain.
