McCutchen leads off with home run for second day in row and Pirates beat Brewers 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Andrew McCutchen led off the bottom of the first with a home run for the second straight game, Bailey Falter took a shutout into the eighth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Tuesday night.
McCutchen hit the first pitch of Tobias Myers’ major league career down the left-field line for his 12th career leadoff homer and his 100th long ball at PNC Park. McCutchen connected off Joe Ross on Monday night in the Pirates’ 4-2 win.
McCutchen became the first Pirates player to hit a leadoff homer in back-to-back games since Adam Frazier in 2019. McCutchen is 5 for 8 in two games since manager Derek Shelton moved him to the top of the batting order, boosting his average from .173 to .233.
Pinch-hitter Connor Joe pushed the lead to 2-0 with an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Falter (2-1) was lifted after Gary Sánchez’s leadoff home run in the eighth — one of just three hits off the left-hander, who had eight strikeouts and two walks.