PITTSBURGH (AP) — Andrew McCutchen and Jared Triolo hit two-run home runs an inning apart to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.
Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle spoiled the shutout with a ninth-inning home run.
McCutchen opened the scoring in the second with his 12th home run of the season, pulling it just inside the left-field foul pole.
Triolo hit his home run an inning later to make it 4-0. He added a triple in the fourth and scored on Bryan Reynolds’s double. The 2-for-4 game lifted his batting average above .200 for the first time this season, and he finished the day with a .205 average.
Doyle hit a two-out, solo home run. He entered with the third-highest OPS in baseball in August, behind Shohei Ohtani (1.221) and Brice Turang (1.190).
Rookie Mike Burrows led the Pirates pitching staff with four shutout innings of two-hit, five-strikeout ball. He was pulled after 57 pitches.
Burrows underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2023, and has pitched more innings (77 2/3) this season than any in his career since he was drafted out of high school in the 11th round in 2018.
Carmen Mlodzinski (3-7) got the win with two shutout innings in relief of Burrows.
Colorado’s Kyle Freeland (3-13) allowed five runs and seven hits over five innings. He struck out six.
Key moment
McCutchen’s home run gave the Pirates a lead they never relinquished. It was his first since Aug. 1, which also came against the Rockies.
Key stat
Freeland’s loss tied him with Arizona’s Zac Gallen (9-13) for the third-most in the majors. Only Washington’s Mitchell Parker (7-14) and fellow Colorado starter Antonio Senzatela (4-15) have more.
Sunday’s pitching matchup
Rockies RHP McCade Brown (MLB debut) at Pirates RHP Paul Skenes (7-9, 2.16 ERA)
10:05 a.m. Sunday, PNC Park
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM, 94.1 FM
Trending: The Rockies will break a franchise record when McCade Brown before the 13th player to make their MLB debut with Colorado this season. A third-round selection in the 2021 draft out of Indiana, the right-hander has slowly worked his way up the organization over the last four years. He’s split time between Single-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford this season, posting a 4-2 record with a 2.47 ERA over 20 starts. The last 11 of those came with Hartford, where he went 4-2 with a 3.14 ERA. He struck out 57 and walked 15 in his 43 innings with the Yard Goats, while posting a 1.07 WHIP and .203 batting average against.
Pitching probables
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Rockies TBA at Astros TBA, 6:10 p.m.
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