Andrew McCutchen Again Sparks Pirates, This Time in Much Different Way

PITTSBURGH — In their first game of a four-game series with the Washington Nationals on Monday, the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking for anything to help lead to much-needed big night offensively.

Veteran designated hitter/right fielder Andrew McCutchen took it upon himself to step in.

McCutchen gave everyone on the team a Phiten necklace to wear on the field and in the dugout. The idea paid off as the Pirates erupted for a season-high 10 runs and 14 hits in a win to snap a modest three-game losing streak.

The bats again fell flat in the second game of the series, a 3-0 shutout loss was the end result. The Pirates’ offense was again largely dormant on Wednesday night at PNC Park until McCutchen once again provided a spark.

In the seventh inning of the Pirates’ 6-1 win over the Nats, McCutchen stepped up to the plate with two runners on and two outs. At the time, the Pirates held a 2-0 lead.

In a 1-1 count, Nats reliever Jorge López delivered a 93 mph sinker that was headed for McCutchen’s head. The 38-year-old quickly dove out of the way to prevent a serious injury.

“It was way too close to his head,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Bryan (Reynolds) had gotten hit two pitches before. And then we go above Cutch’s head? Not a fan of that.”

It’s possible that the pitch was retaliation, for more reasons than one.

In Tuesday’s game, Pirates starter Mitch Keller hit Paul DeJong in the face with a fastball in the sixth inning. DeJong was placed on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with a fractured nose.

Additionally, in a game last year at Wrigley Field, McCutchen and Reynolds both hit home runs off López, who was pitching for the Cubs at the time.

Whether it was incidental or there was some intent behind it, both benches and bullpens cleared. No punches were thrown, but words were exchanged, and López got ejected.

Pirates and Nationals clear the benches after Jorge Lopez throws a pitch near Andrew McCutchen's head. Lopez was ejected. Oneil Cruz had to hold back Tommy Pham pic.twitter.com/ZOZxmkxTLi

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 17, 2025

“I don’t think it matters if it was or if it wasn’t (intentional),” said McCutchen. “It’s just the fact of the nature of the situation. I never try to say… I can’t speak for the other person. Just the nature of the situation, take it as is. Even if it wasn’t on purpose, which I don’t really think it was, I think it was just the height of the moment got to him maybe.”

McCutchen eventually drew a walk against Eduardo Salazar, loading the bases for Oneil Cruz.

On the first pitch of the at-bat, a slider down and in, Cruz belted his first-career grand slam into the seats on top of the Clemente Wall.

The 385-foot blast ballooned the Pirates’ lead to 6-0.

A Cruz missile, but make it a GRAND SLAM 💥 pic.twitter.com/8vxBFYSAz6

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 17, 2025

“I don’t know if he got fired up. I think our whole club, as you can see, got fired up,” said Shelton of Cruz’s blast. “They took a little bit of offense to what happened, and because of it, it ended up sparking a big inning.”

Though the avenue for unity was much different this time, McCutchen and the Pirates, are hoping this was the kind of jolt the team needed to break from their early-season struggles.

A win is one thing, but with a 7-12 record up to this point, it will take more than just one to make any sort of difference.

“When the season’s gone the way that it’s gone for us so far, sometimes things like that can bring a team that’s just trying to figure out their identity and figure out the whys,” he explained. “Why are we up and down? Why do we score 10 one day and can’t seem to score one the next? You have something like today, it can bring teams together.”