McCutchen shines in Pirates' 2-1 victory vs. Reds
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BRADENTON, Fla. -- Andrew McCutchen made two exceptional plays in the outfield, and Andy Phillips' RBI single in the eighth inning lifted the Pirates past the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1, this afternoon at chilly, windswept McKechnie Field.
McCutchen's first defensive effort came in the second inning, on an Edwin Encarnacion liner that appeared destined for the track in left field. McCutchen sprinted seemingly right with it, leaped and brought it down.
"Tremendous," starter Zach Duke said. "For him to be going back like that ... that's not an ordinary play."
The next came in the eighth, when Paul Janish tried to score from third with one out on a fly ball to medium left. McCutchen positioned himself and launched a one-hop strike to catcher Robinzon Diaz for the final out to preserve a 1-1 tie.
McCutchen went 1 for 3 with a walk at the plate, his eighth-inning infield single his first hit of the spring and the one that would result in the winning run. Pedro Alvarez reached on catcher's interference, and Phillips lashed his single into right to make it 2-1.
Evan Meek notched his second save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
John Grabow, Craig Hansen, Jason Davis and Ronald Uviedo also threw scoreless innings of relief.
Duke's first spring start lasted two innings, one outstanding and one shaky: He retired the side in the first, including a three-pitch strikeout of Chris Dickerson. He did not allow a run in the second, but there were two hits, and two of the outs were stung.
"It felt good out there, especially the fastball," Duke said.
The Pirates nearly turned a triple play in the third. Jeff Keppinger's grounder was scooped neatly by third baseman Neil Walker, who tagged the runner between second and third in the same motion, flipped to Freddy Sanchez for another out, and on to Adam LaRoche ??? but not in time. The crowd initially groaned at umpire Tim Welke's call, then applauded Walker's effort.
Cincinnati opened the scoring in the fourth on Jonny Gomes' sacrifice fly off Daniel McCutchen, and the Pirates matched that in the sixth on Ryan Doumit's bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
The Pirates are 5-1 in Grapefruit League play.
Ross Ohlendorf will start against the Netherlands' World Baseball Classic entry tomorrow.
Check PBC Blog for details.
First Published March 2, 2009 3:49 pm
