Andrew McCutchen hitless as Pirates' bullpen collapses in loss to Mets

Saturday’s game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets, featuring sunny and warm weather, attracted 35,290 fans to PNC Park.

Many in the crowd doubtless hoped to see Andrew McCutchen record career hit No. 2,000, in addition to the Pirates winning their second straight against New York, clinching the series.

Unfortunately for the fanatics, neither transpired.

McCutchen went 0 for 3 with a walk, remaining at 1,999 hits, and the Pirates bullpen imploded in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, leading to a 5-1 Mets win.

New York starter Kodai Senga was solid in seven innings, allowing two hits to the Pirates along with six strikeouts and four walks to collect the win.

“The forkball’s elite, and he had it today,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Senga. “As the game got later on, he mixed in the cutter and curveball. We just got pitched to today. He threw the ball really well.”

Johan Oviedo (3-4, 4.16 ERA) took the hill for the Pirates and delivered a quality start, going 6 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits, walking two and striking out five.

Oviedo recorded an out in the seventh but was removed in favor of Dauri Moreta.

Moreta, who hadn’t allowed an earned run since late April, was unable to get the job done.

With Starling Marte, the last batter Oviedo faced, on first base, Moreta intentionally walked Luis Guillorme before allowing a two-run double to Mark Canha.

That put the Mets up 3-1, and they added to their tally in the eighth and ninth when Colin Holderman surrendered a solo homer to Francisco Alvarez, and Angel Perdomo gave up an RBI double to Canha.

The Mets got on the board in the top of the third inning after Tommy Pham led off with a double. Oviedo got Guillorme to fly out, which advanced Pham to third, and struck out Canha. But Brandon Nimmo hit a two-out RBI single for the game’s first run.

Nimmo later made a key play on defense, robbing Connor Joe of a likely bases-clearing extra-base hit to deep center field, elevating against the wall and coming down with the baseball.

That was in the bottom of the third as Joe looked to make Senga pay after the latter issued three straight walks to Jason Delay, McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds.

“Nimmo made that really good play against the wall, and it kind of changed the course of the game,” Shelton said.

While he absorbed the loss Saturday, Oviedo turned in his second straight quality start, contrasting the rough start to his season.

Oviedo’s monthly ERA has dropped from 4.78 in April to 4.15 over five starts in May. So far in June, it’s 2.70.

“It’s a long season,” Oviedo said. “I try not to think about bad results. For me, today’s game still isn’t over in my mind, but tomorrow, it will be out of my mind. That’s how I try to keep it: focus on the next game, on the next pitch, on the next batter.”

As for McCutchen, who batted leadoff Saturday and served as designated hitter, he went about his business calmly, showing zero signs of stress despite being on the verge of a career milestone only 290 MLB players have achieved.

Over the course of the game, fans at PNC Park booed Senga for throwing McCutchen balls off the plate.

McCutchen drew his team-leading 37th walk in the third inning. While hits have been somewhat sparse of late — he has four through 21 at-bats in June (.190) — McCutchen has racked up 10 walks in seven games this month.

The closest he came to hit No. 2,000 on Saturday was a seventh-inning grounder that tested the range of the shortstop Guillorme but, ultimately, saw McCutchen thrown out at first base by several steps.

Sunday, the Pirates wrap their series against the Mets, which leads into an off day Monday before the club hits the road for six straight games.

McCutchen’s first MLB hit came against the Mets on June 4, 2009, at PNC Park.

With Shelton confirming the 36-year-old will be in the lineup Sunday, McCutchen will get another chance to reach 2,000 in Pittsburgh.