McCutchen got the big hit in this one when he squeaked a ground ball up the middle that Dansby Swanson inadvertently kicked into shallow center field. That mishap allowed both Bryan Reynolds and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to score and give the Pirates a late lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. While McCutchen began the season in more of a part-time role, he’s started in 12 of Pittsburgh’s last 13 games and has slugged his way to an .826 OPS overall.

There’s a good chance the Pirates cost themselves a game or two by not simply shutting down Bryan Reynolds when he was hurting earlier this season and instead benching McCutchen and using an injured player at DH. That’s in the past now; Reynolds is healthy and back in right field, allowing McCutchen to resume his DH duties. One of McCutchen’s singles today left the bat at 110.2 mph, his hardest-hit ball since 2022. He’s hitting .276/.368/.447 in 87 plate appearances.

It was vintage McCutchen on Tuesday night as the 38-year-old enjoyed a solid day at the plate to lead Pittsburgh to a win. He took José Soriano deep for a three-run blast in the fourth inning, then singled to lead off the sixth and drew a walk in the eighth. McCutchen is batting .246/.348/.404 with two homers and nine RBI across 66 plate appearances.

Right field, specifically. Because Reynolds is trying to play through the injury, McCutchen, who is quite the liability in the outfield these days, was out of the lineup for Pittsburgh’s previous three games. It might be best for everyone if Reynolds just took a seat and tried to heal up, since he hasn’t helped while slugging .226 in 33 plate appearances.