Andrew McCutchen exits game early with rib discomfort
By Hayden Kane
There was nothing but buzz and excitement around the Pittsburgh Pirates as they took on the St. Louis Cardinals in a key divisional game on Tuesday night.
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Gerrit Cole, the young ace for the Pirates, was finally making his return to the mound. As he did, he carried a no-hitter into the middle innings of the game in front of the home crowd in Pittsburgh. Part of that effort was an outstanding catch from star center fielder Andrew McCutchen, a moment that sent the excitement in the crowd to new heights.
Unfortunately the outcome of that catch might have long-term implications for the Pirates, as McCutchen was eventually forced to exit the game with left rib discomfort. That would presumably be an irritation of the rib injury that the defending MVP was already playing through in the final weeks of the season.
Tom Singer of MLB.com reports the following:
"Andrew McCutchen was removed from Tuesday’s game vs. the Cardinals in the sixth inning due to left rib discomfort. The outfielder exited two innings after making a spectacular catch to prolong Gerrit Cole’s no-hit bid.McCutchen, who was undergoing additional treatment, was to be further evaluated on Wednesday."
The Pirates are just hanging on by a thread in the playoff race, and an injury to McCutchen would be a huge blow. As for the catch that caused the injury, you can view video of the spectacular play below, in which the star outfielder was clearly concerned right away: