Major League Baseball
Pittsburgh 10, Baltimore 1
When: 7:05 PM ET, Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Temperature: 85°
Umpires: Home - Mark Ripperger, 1B - Chris Segal, 2B - Phil Cuzzi, 3B - Tom Hallion
Attendance: 19318

PITTSBURGH -- Andrew McCutchen might have played his next-to-last home game in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform Tuesday.

If that proves to be the case, the beginning to his farewell could not have gone any better. He hit a grand slam and a three-run homer while recording a career-high eight RBIs to lead the Pirates to a 10-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at PNC Park.

In the second inning, McCutchen cracked his first career grand slam over the center field wall to give the Pirates a 6-0 lead. His second home run made it 10-1 in the sixth.

"I was thinking about (the grand slam) before I came up to bat," McCutchen said. "You can't help but think about it. It's something that you can't not think about. ... You'd be crazy to think I'm not thinking about it when I come up to bat."

The Pirates took McCutchen out of the game at the start of the seventh inning, allowing the crowd to give him a standing ovation. He also had a double and a single to go 4-for-4 while becoming the first Pirate to have eight RBIs in a game since Jason Bay on July 2, 2004.

"(The curtain call) was cool," McCutchen said. "We still have a game tomorrow. So, it was awesome, but I'm like 'Shoot, I'm trying to have another good game tomorrow, too.'"

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle explained why he decided to give McCutchen the curtain call rather than leave him in for a chance at the cycle.

"It's special. You can't draw them up," Hurdle said. "I thought it was appropriate at the time, in front of the hometown crowd, last homestand. It's a special night. The fans were very appreciative. He's done a lot of wonderful things here on the North Shore. Tonight was a very, very special night for him."

Right-hander Trevor Williams (7-9) allowed one run and three hits with six strikeouts through six innings. Steven Brault blanked Baltimore for the final three innings, earning his first major league save.

"It's a cool rule. I like the rule now that it works for me," Brault said. "So, I'll take the nine-run, three-inning save."

The Orioles' lone run off Williams came in the sixth inning, when Chris Davis sent his 26th home run over the center field wall to cut Pittsburgh's lead to 7-1.

Before his grand slam, McCutchen helped the Pirates build a 2-0 lead in the first inning when he drove in Starling Marte with a double to left. He then scored when Josh Bell followed with a double, this one to right field, for Pittsburgh's second run.

The lead ballooned to 7-0 in the fifth when Gregory Polanco grounded into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, scoring McCutchen from third.

Meanwhile, the Orioles struggled to get anything going early.

Williams no-hit Baltimore through 3 2/3 innings before Trey Mancini doubled past a diving McCutchen. Chance Sisco grounded out to leave Mancini stranded at second.

Orioles starter Kevin Gausman (11-11) couldn't counter Williams' success. He allowed six runs and five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in four innings.

"He elevated some balls. Probably wasn't his best," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He's pitched some good baseball for us. Tonight wasn't one of those."

Gausman pitched eight scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox his previous time out on Sept. 19.

"Didn't give up too many hard-hit balls except for the two that McCutchen hit," Gausman said. "That was the difference, obviously. Kind of frustrating. I feel like I've been kind of getting in a groove lately. So, to go out there and only throw four innings, not very good."

NOTES: Orioles INF Pedro Alvarez made his first trip back to Pittsburgh since 2015 on Tuesday. Alvarez hit .236 with 131 home runs and 401 RBIs in six seasons with the Pirates from 2010-15. He did not appear in the game. ... Orioles CF Adam Jones did not play because of leg soreness. He left Baltimore's 9-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday after going 1-for-2 with two RBIs. ... Pirates 2B Adam Frazier scored two runs and went 2-for-5 but struck out three times. Frazier now has had two hits in three of his past four games.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Baltimore   Pittsburgh
Kevin Gausman Player Trevor Williams
Loss W/L Win
4.0 IP 6.0
5 Strikeouts 6
5 Hits 3
13.50 ERA 1.50
Hitting
Baltimore   Pittsburgh
Joey Rickard Player Andrew McCutchen
1 Hits 4
0 RBI 8
0 HR 2
1 TB 11
1.000 Avg 1.000
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Baltimore 5 1 9 .156 11 7 1 1 0 1
Pittsburgh 11 2 20 .324 10 8 10 2 0 0