How McCutchen's patience at the plate fueled Bucs' comeback?

PITTSBURGH -- Andrew McCutchen is three hits away from 2,000. He knows it. His teammates know it. His opponents know it. But McCutchen isn’t in any rush to collect those three hits; he’d rather stack wins, instead.

Despite going hitless in five plate appearances, McCutchen played an invaluable role in the Pirates’ gritty 5-4 win over the A’s on Monday at PNC Park, collecting three walks and driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly, one of the two runs he drove in this evening. The win put Pittsburgh back in first place in the NL Central.

“It's inevitable I'm going to get it,” McCutchen said. “At some point I will. So, I'm not stressing about it at all. I'm not trying to overdo it or do too much or start chasing just because I'm trying to get three more hits. I'm just trying to stay within myself, understand the situation and put together good at-bats. If I don't get a pitch to hit, I'll take my walk.”

The most notable -- and dramatic -- of McCutchen’s three walks was in the sixth inning, when he drew a free pass off Shintaro Fujinami with the bases loaded, cutting the Pirates' deficit to one run.

Fujinami began the plate appearance with a cutter that ran too high and too inside, dropping McCutchen to the dirt. McCutchen landed awkwardly on his right elbow, prompting a visit from manager Derek Shelton and assistant athletic trainer Tony Leo, but McCutchen collected himself and stepped back in the box.

McCutchen and Fujinami proceeded to engage in an eight-pitch duel, one in which Fujinami progressively amped up the velocity as the plate appearance went on. Fujinami hit 102.1 mph on the third payoff pitch of the plate appearance but just missed the zone and walked in a run. Before jogging to first, McCutchen emphatically flipped his bat and yelled toward the home dugout.

Following the bases-loaded walk, McCutchen helped produce a run in a rather untraditional way: getting thrown out at third base to end an inning.

After Bryan Reynolds followed up McCutchen with his own bases-loaded walk to tie the game, Jack Suwinski pinch-hit for Connor Joe and hit a medium-deep fly ball to right fielder Seth Brown. Austin Hedges, the runner on third, tagged and darted for home. McCutchen, on second, dashed for third.

Despite Hedges, one of the slowest runners in baseball, representing the go-ahead run, Brown opted to throw to third and attempt to double up McCutchen. When McCutchen realized the throw was headed to third, not home, he pulled up before arriving at the bag. He knew he was going to be tagged out and that the inning was going to be over, but he stalled long enough to ensure Hedges would score and the Pirates would take the lead.

"I'm not necessarily trying to draw the throw there, but understanding with Hedges at third, he's going to need all the help he can get,” McCutchen said. “In my mind, I thought knowing the situation, he's probably going to throw it home. It's a tie ballgame there, so he's going to give it a shot. At least that's what I was thinking. But at the same time, if he throws it to third, I'm going to pull up and make sure we're going to get a run. That's why I left, and when I did, I saw that the ball was coming in, I just pulled up. Get the run. … It's just a game of chess, honestly."

Two frames later, McCutchen stepped into the batter’s box in a tie game with runners at the corners with one out. McCutchen worked the count to 3-1 and was on the verge of drawing his fourth walk of the evening, but when Sam Moll’s sinker caught a bit too much plate, McCutchen sent a fly ball to the right-field warning track, plenty deep enough for Ji Hwan Bae to score from third and set the table for a sixth straight win.

“I felt like I was the right man for those situations,” McCutchen said. “I look forward to those. I invite those chances, those situations. You don't get many of them. When the time comes, I bear down, I do my best to try and get that run in. It's nothing like being able to come through and get the job done. So, to be able to do it a couple times today was rewarding.”

McCutchen’s 2,000th career hit will also be rewarding in its own unique way. With 1,997 hits already under his belt, McCutchen isn’t stressing about collecting three more. He knows the hits will come. He also showed he can contribute to a win without them, too.