Cutch Hits 300 as Pirates Show Resilience to Split in Philadelphia

The Pirates suffered a tough loss on Saturday in Philadelphia, being walked off for the first time in the 2024 season. However, Sunday they showed resilience and fight, to help propel them to a 9-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park in the City of Brotherly Love. The win came in a matchup that looked very bleak as the Pirates took the field on Sunday. The Pirates sent out starter Mitch Keller, who had struggled up until Sunday, against Phillies ace Zack Wheeler.

The Phillies lead off the scoring in the 3rd inning, as Trea Turner belted his first home run of the 2024 season to put the Phillies ahead 1-0. The Pirates then quickly battled back to tie it in the fourth, as Jared Triolo stole second base and Andrew McCutchen stole home to notch the game at one. Phillies Catcher J.T. Realmuto's errant throw allowed McCutchen to score easily for the Pirates. 

Turner then helped the Phillies regain the lead in the 5th inning, driving in Johan Rojas to put the Phillies up 2-1. That lead would be the last one the Phillies saw in this contest, as the Pirates offense came alive the rest of the game.

In the top of the sixth inning, Pirates outfielder Jack Suwinski took the aforementioned Wheeler deep with the bases loaded to push the Pirates ahead 5-2. For Suwinski, he entered Sunday batting .170 average with a .501 OPS. The home run could not come at a more opportune time for Suwinski and the Pirates, who faced a tall task facing one of the better pitchers in all of baseball Sunday in Wheeler.

(Photo Courtesy of the New York Times)

Recently acquired Pirates Catcher Joey Bart later added a solo homer in the sixth inning as well, to make it 6-2 Pirates. Last, but certainly not least, Andrew McCutchen also added a home run later on in this game. In the top of the ninth inning, McCutchen clubbed his 300th career home run to push the Pirates lead to 9-2. Per Pirates announcer Joe Block, it was McCutchen's first homer in 236 days. 

The Pirates enjoyed an offensive outburst on Sunday, but let's not lose sight of the work Mitch Keller did on the mound for Pittsburgh as well. Keller went seven strong innings, allowing just two earned runs, and lowering his ERA to 4.50 on the season. Sunday was a much needed outing for Keller and the Pirates. 

The Pirates showed resilience after a tough walk-off loss on Saturday where they fell 4-3 to the Phillies on a Nick Castellanos single. Sunday appeared to be a very tall task for the Pirates to overcome to earn the series split, especially facing Wheeler. The win improves the Pirates record to 11-5 on the year and also comes as the Milwaukee Brewers fell in Baltimore to the Orioles on Sunday. This was a big pass of the eye test for the Pirates, albeit early on in a long season, as they appeared to be headed towards a series loss. Instead the Pirates hit the road at 11-5 and not 10-6 with what should be a good chance to take two out of three games against a New York Mets team that is 7-8 on the year. 

Martin Perez will take the hill to start on Monday and oppose Mets starter Adrian Houser. Houser, a 31-year-old Veteran, is 0-1 on the young season with an ERA north of 5.00. Perez, on the other hand, has enjoyed a nice start to his season with his new club in Pittsburgh. He is 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA thus far in three games started.