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Pirates Win and Split With the Phillies, Andrew McCutchen Hits Number 300

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The Pittsburgh Pirates wrapped a split series with the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday with a 9-2 win.

This series was split at two games each, and featured as many highs as it did lows. David Bednar bounced back on Friday, but Aroldis Chapman blew a save on Saturday. The Pirates got good pitching each game, but Marco Gonzales went down with an injury. The offense didn’t show up consistently, but they did show up with power on Sunday.

Down 2-1, and with Mitch Keller doing well on the mound, the Pirates had an opportunity in the sixth inning. Ke’Bryan Hayes reached on an error to start the inning, followed by a walk to Rowdy Tellez and a single by Andrew McCutchen. This brought Jack Suwinski to the plate, who hit the second pitch he saw for a grand slam, giving the Pirates a lead. Later in the same inning, Joey Bart homered to extend that lead to 6-2.

Keller had an outstanding start. The Pirates’ top starter allowed two runs on eight hits in seven innings, with no walks and four strikeouts. He needed 95 pitches to get through the day. His fastball say 93-94, touching 96.8 MPH, with four whiffs and seven called strikes from the four-seam. His cutter had two whiffs and three called strikes, giving him two pitches on the day with a 31% or higher called/swinging strike rate.

The Pirates didn’t relinquish the lead from Suwinski’s homer. They got scoreless innings from Josh Fleming and Ryder Ryan, before the most eventful moment of the game took place.

300 HOME RUNS

With one out in the ninth inning, and Ke’Bryan Hayes on second base after a leadoff double, Andrew McCutchen connected for his first home run of the season. It was also the 300th home run of his career.

McCutchen reached the 2,000 career hit mark last season, and now exceeds 300 home runs. He becomes the 160th player in history to hit 300 home runs, and currently ranks 259th in career hits.

Alex Stumpf pointed out that McCutchen is one of 13 players in history with at least 2,000 hits, 300 homers, 400 doubles, 45 triples, and 200 stolen bases. Nine of those players are in the Hall of Fame. McCutchen strengthened his future case with this milestone.

STATCAST HEROES

The home run from Suwinski traveled 402 feet with a 106.5 MPH exit velocity. He also had a 107.4 MPH single. STATS

The minor league Statcast Heroes can be found in the nightly Pirates Prospect Watch.

DAILY VIDEO RUNDOWN

The top highlight of the day is number 300 from Andrew McCutchen.

https://twitter.com/Pirates/status/1779600758368841810

Mitch Keller led the way today with seven strong innings. Here is a look at his stuff that led to the results.

Jack Suwinski gave the Pirates the lead and broke the game open with one grand slam swing.

Joey Bart has looked great since joining the Pirates, picking up his second homer here.

 

Liover Peguero picked up an RBI double down in Triple-A.

Malcom Nunez hit his third homer of the season.

Anthony Solometo with a strikeout in the first inning for Altoona.

Matt Fraizer and Jase Bowen showed off the defense. Fraizer had a diving catch in shallow right-center field. Bowen later threw out a runner at second from the right field line.

Dylan Shockley picking up an opposite field RBI single as one of the few Altoona runs today.

P.J. Hilson, taken in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft, hits his first homer for Bradenton.

Khristian Curtis recorded five strikeouts today, but also allowed five runs. Here is one of the strikeouts.

PROSPECT WATCH

The nightly Pirates Prospect Watch is now its own article. I’ll be doing the weekly recap every Monday, as there are no games played. The daily Prospect Watch will look at one player who stands out that day, along with the recaps you’d normally see in this article.

Sunday’s action didn’t go well for a few top pitching prospects in Altoona. Check out the Prospect Watch for the full results.

ROSTER MOVES

The Pirates placed LHP Marco Gonzales on the 15-day IL, and recalled RHP Ryder Ryan. Gonzales made his latest start on Saturday, and had a left forearm muscle strain today. The Pirates will eventually have to replace Gonzales in the rotation.

The candidates from Triple-A are RHP Quinn Priester or LHP Eric Lauer. Priester is on the 40-man roster, and has picked up a lot of swing and miss this year. He also was hit pretty hard in his most recent start. Lauer has pitched very well this year, although he’s dealt with control issues at times. This would likely be the best opportunity to see what they have with Lauer.

TODAY: PIRATES (11-5) AT METS (6-8)

Game Time: 7:10 PM EDT
Watch: SportsNet-PIT
Listen: KDKA-FM 93.7

Pirates Starter: Martin Perez, LHP (1-0, 1.89)
Mets Starter: Adrian Houser, RHP (0-1, 5.40)

In the Minors…

The minor leagues are off on Monday. Check the site at noon for the weekly recap of all of the best performers in the Pirates’ system.

PIRATES PROSPECTS DAILY

In this week’s First Pitch, I question whether a site like Pirates Prospects, which requires subscriptions to produce premium minor league updates, needs to exist. Ultimately, it will need subscribers for the premium content on this site to remain in existence in the long-term.

First Pitch: Does Pirates Prospects Need to Exist?

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LAST WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS

Two weeks ago, I looked at the top 50 prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates system. This week looks at five hitters who can grade inside the top 30, plus a look at the path from rookie ball to the majors.

**Williams: The Path From Rookie Ball to the Major Leagues

In this subscriber-exclusive column, I give my view of the journey from Rookie Ball to the Major Leagues, and the elements that every player deals with along the way.

**Jack Brannigan is the Next Gold Glove Quality Third Baseman in the Pirates System

The Pirates have Gold Glove third basemen in Ke’Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo. They’ve got another candidate in the system in power hitter Jack Brannigan.

**Mitch Jebb Brings Elite Speed and Swing Decisions to Greensboro

With so many three-true-outcome approaches in pro ball, 2023 second round pick Mitch Jebb brings a refreshing style of contact, speed, and hustle.

**Jase Bowen Has a Power/Speed/Defense Combo to Dream Upon

Following a 20-20 season in Greensboro, and with the ability to play center field or first base, Jase Bowen is a prospect with a lot of upside to dream upon.

**Tres Gonzales Brings Advanced Hitting Approach to Altoona

One of the most advanced hitters I watched last year was Tres Gonzales. His approach isn’t flashy, but he gets the job done with contact, on-base skills, and a bit of power.

**Rodolfo Nolasco Has Huge Power and Huge Swing and Miss

Some of the best raw power in the system belongs to Rodolfo Nolasco. He showed that with 20 homers in Single-A in 2023. He’ll need to improve the swing and miss to repeat at the higher levels.

SONG OF THE DAY

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Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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