PITTSBURGH (AP) – Gerrit Cole pitched a three-hitter for his first career complete game and slumping Andrew McCutchen had a three-run home run among his three hits as the Pittsburgh Pirates rolled to a 10-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.
Making the 88th start of his four-year career, Cole (6-6) struck six and walked one while winning for the first time since May 20. He had gone six starts without a victory while also spending nearly five weeks on the disabled list with strained right triceps from June 11-July 16.
Cole threw 94 pitches, 70 for strikes, becoming the first Pirates pitcher to complete a game with fewer than 100 pitches since Francisco Liriano, who also needed just 94 at St. Louis on Aug. 14, 2013.
McCutchen’s three-run blast off David Rollins came in the eighth inning and capped the scoring. His 15th home run of the season pushed the nine-year veteran’s career total to 166, tying Dave Parker for fifth on the Pirates’ all-time list.
McCutchen had gone 4 for 29 with eight strikeouts in his previous seven games, dropping the 2013 NL MVP’s batting average to .241.