MILWAUKEE (AP) — These nights don’t come around often, and one arrived at a perfect time for the Pirates. They banged baseballs around Miller Park on Monday and watched them bounce past infield shifts, in front of outfielders and, in the case of Andrew McCutchen’s opposite-field shot in the sixth, scrape over the wall and crash in a picnic area beyond the right-field fence.
McCutchen ruined a few dinners and plated three runs with a pair of hits off Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Matt Garza, and Pirates starter Gerrit Cole churned through seven innings of one-run baseball for the second consecutive outing to score an 8-1 victory in the opener of a four-game road series against the first-place Brewers.
“You just want to get started on the right foot,” Cole said. “This is a really good ball club, so you have to be on your toes.”
Milwaukee (38-34) managed five hits overall and only three against Cole, who walked two and struck out five. Slugger Eric Thames struck out three times, including when he looked at strike three, a knee-buckling curveball from Cole, to end the sixth inning. Cole, at 96 pitches, was “very convicted” he should continue, manager Clint Hurdle said, and, boy, was he right.
Ahead 4-1, Cole led off the seventh inning with a single and sparked a four-run rally against reliever Wily Peralta. Hardly bothered by the extended inning, Cole emerged for the home half of the seventh and spent just seven pitches to retire the side. After allowing 21 earned runs in 19? innings over four starts from May 22 to June 8, Cole has returned to a familiar form.
“It’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” Hurdle said.
Cole had plenty of run support Monday and made it count. He dotted the bottom of the zone with his fastball and used off-speed pitches to keep the high-octane Brewers offense off-balance.
“Cole started everything on the mound,” Hurdle said. “He was in attack mode from pitch one.”
“Not really doing anything different,” Cole added. “Just being me.”
The Pirates (32-28) arrived in Milwaukee Sunday night after dropping two of three games at home against the Chicago Cubs. Pittsburgh sat six games behind the Brewers entering their four-game series at Miller Park, their first of three trips there this season. Milwaukee was five games over .500, the Cubs were at .500, and the rest of the division was in the red.
“Trying to find our way,” Hurdle said before the game. “It’s kind of like those races you see where everybody starts off and you stay kind of jumbled, and somebody is looking to make a break at some point in time.”
If Hurdle was referring to a peloton — the pack of riders in a bicycle race — it’s worth noting breakaway riders typically take off far earlier than this, and they almost always are caught. Perhaps the pack isn’t a bad place to be, but the Pirates must advance soon, as a continued slide before the All-Star break would increase the likelihood of a trade-deadline fire sale.
McCutchen, whose stock continues to rebound after another slow start, had a two-run home run and an RBI single. Since moving to sixth in the batting order May 26, McCutchen is batting .378 with seven home runs, 11 walks, 13 extra-base hits and 20 RBIs in 22 starts.
“It’s effortless power,” Hurdle said. “He’s getting his foot down. He’s getting his swing off. He’s directionally hitting the ball where it’s been pitched. It’s been going on a while. This is one of the best stretches I’ve seen him have since we’ve been together.”
This season, Cole has seen home runs fly off bats at an alarming rate. That’s how the Brewers opening the scoring Monday, with Travis Shaw smacking a second-inning solo shot into the bullpen in left-center field for his 13th home run this season. It was home run No. 16 allowed by Cole, already well beyond his previous career-high of 11 set in 2014 and tied in 2015.
As Cole settled in, Garza seemed to tire. Adam Frazier snuck a two-run, seeing-eye single into left field, scoring two runs in the third. In the sixth, after David Freese struck a leadoff single, Garza fell behind 2-0 on McCutchen. The starter was in a bad spot, as McCutchen has a 1.210 OPS in his career when hitting a 2-0 pitch in play. Garza’s fastball was off the plate away, but higher than the previous two. McCutchen ripped it on a line over the right-field wall.
McCutchen’s homer, his 13th this season, was his 29th against the Brewers since 2009, second-most among opposing players behind former Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce (30).
When Cole came off the mound after freezing Thames to end the sixth, he showed little emotion. He instead walked directly to the bat rack and put on his batting helmet. Cole’s explanation of those events: “Well, yeah, I was in the game so I needed to get ready to hit.”
“In my mind it was, you’ve got to throw another one,” catcher Francisco Cervelli recounted. “I think it was the same thought for him.”
Cole led the charge against Peralta with a leadoff single in the seventh. Frazier walked. Josh Harrison and Gregory Polanco singled, and left fielder Hernan Perez tripped over his feet for a run-scoring error. Freese bounced an infield base hit. McCutchen sent a sharp single to center. The lead was seven, the game all but over, and Cole headed back out for one last inning.
“A lot of times,” Hurdle said, “those rallies start real innocent.”
