Amid special day, McCutchen, Pirates fall just short

PITTSBURGH -- Considering how the day had unfolded, Andrew McCutchen appeared destined to come through.

Roughly nine hours before McCutchen stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of a one-run game, Bryan Reynolds and the Pirates agreed to an eight-year, $106.75 million extension, the most lavish deal in franchise history that will keep him in Pittsburgh for years to come. Following months of uncertainty, the All-Star put an entire city’s anxieties at ease.

Now, McCutchen, the author of countless stadium-shaking moments, had an opportunity to play the hero once again, to help extend the winning streak to eight games and keep the good times rolling.

The streak, though, would end here. McCutchen popped out, the Dodgers escaped the inning and the Pirates eventually fell, 8-7, on a night in which they committed three errors and left eight runners on base.

“When you do not play clean, and you give a world championship-caliber team extra opportunities, they capitalize on them,” said manager Derek Shelton.

The first handful of innings didn’t offer any indication that the streak would end. Pittsburgh held a 7-2 lead over Los Angeles after four innings, a lead that McCutchen helped build with his fifth home run of the season, an opposite-field shot that pushed the lead to five.

With Johan Oviedo, the owner of three straight quality starts entering play, on the mound, the Pirates appeared poised to cruise to an eighth straight win. The Dodgers, even in their depleted state, showed why they’re a perpetual powerhouse.

After plating a run off Oviedo in the fifth inning, the Dodgers chased the starter from the game with just one out in the sixth inning. Los Angeles wasn’t exactly smoking the ball, rather finding grass on relatively soft contact.

Once Oviedo departed, right-hander Robert Stephenson inherited a two-run lead with the bases loaded. He was one strike away from limiting the damage when Mookie Betts sent a payoff slider high into the Pittsburgh night, a ball that kept drifting with the wind towards the left-field wall. Jack Suwinski perfectly read Betts’ deep drive, timing his steps, getting vertical and robbing the potential go-ahead home run.

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“You always [think], ‘Did I really catch that?’” Suwinski said. “It all happens pretty fast, kind of fast and slow at the same time because you have taken a lot of reps doing things like that. It’s a pretty cool feeling.”

Two innings later, Chris Taylor ensured that Suwinski wouldn’t have any chance at robbing him, launching a three-run homer off Colin Holderman to give the Dodgers the one-run lead. In the bottom of the frame, the Pirates had an opportunity to tie or take the lead, loading the bases for McCutchen with two outs.

On a 3-1 count, the Dodgers’ Caleb Ferguson went with a high heater that McCutchen couldn’t resist, a pitch that could’ve very well been ball four. McCutchen offered and popped the ball up into foul territory.

He hoped the ball would drift into the stands, but catcher Austin Barnes nestled under the ball to record the third out and end the threat. McCutchen didn’t hide his emotions, slamming his bat on the grass with both hands, the sound of broken lumber reverberating throughout the stadium.

“Cutch has had good at-bats, but the ball just beat him a little bit,” Shelton said. “We gave away too many opportunities. We gave away too many opportunities, and we just did not execute pitches. That ended up being the difference in the game.”

Generally speaking, the vibes remain good in Pittsburgh -- no loss could dampen a day of this magnitude. With this loss, however, the vibes have taken a bit of a hit.