Pirates designated hitter Andrew McCutchen, already a revered figure in the Pittsburgh clubhouse, earned additional respect from his teammates by playing through a nagging knee ailment in early August during the club’s eventual 10-game losing streak.

Knee inflammation ultimately sidelined McCutchen on Aug. 17, as he headed to the 10-day injured list.

McCutchen returned to the Pirates lineup Friday in Cleveland vs. the Guardians after an absence of 12 games, batting cleanup.

The 37-year-old showed few signs of needing to shake off any rust as he went 2 for 5 with a double, homer and three RBIs while also scoring two runs.

McCutchen’s solid game was not enough to lift the Pirates to a win, however, as they fell 10-8 for their fourth straight loss.

“That’s always the challenge of coming back — you haven’t seen a lot of pitching in however many days it was,” McCutchen said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “Getting back into the groove of it and getting comfortable again is always a challenge. But I felt like I was back to where I left off.”

McCutchen left off with an 11-game hitting streak dating to July 28, and he extended it to 12 with his two-run double off the center-field wall in the fourth inning.

The ball traveled an estimated 418 feet and would have been a homer in 25 of 30 MLB ballparks, per Statcast.

ANDREW McCUTCHEN TIES THE GAME

HE'S BAAAAAAAACK

102.5 MPH exit velocity, 418 feet, .800 xBA, HR in 25/30 ballparks pic.twitter.com/Hq4v2QqWZm

— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) August 31, 2024

In 10 games this month, McCutchen is batting .371 (13 for 35).

At the time of his injury, through 101 games played, McCutchen was leading the Pirates in walks (51), with his on-base percentage (.336) and OPS (.741) ranking second and third, respectively.

Over the course of the year, McCutchen primarily served as the Pirates’ leadoff man, appearing there 81 times before going on the injured list.

During the time he missed, Isiah Kiner-Falefa stepped into that role and stayed there Friday in Cleveland, with McCutchen batting fourth instead.

That is fine by McCutchen, who said hitting cleanup likely will be less strenuous on his pesky knee.

“Putting me there makes sense instead of being leadoff and coming back from this knee thing that I was dealing with,” he said. “It’d probably be a lot of running and getting on-base, so it makes sense for (Kiner-Falefa) to be at the top right now and me being a little further down the lineup.”

Additionally, McCutchen looks forward to the prospects of coming to bat with runners on base more often.

With his three RBIs Friday, he ranks fifth on the team in that department.

“Hopefully, I’ll get a little more opportunities to drive in runs,” he said. “That’d be my main and sole focus — not leading off and getting on-base and having to run around the basepaths. It’s good. I’m fine with it.”

McCutchen’s finest moment Friday came arguably in the ninth inning, when he blasted his 17th home run of the year in a futile attempt to spark a rally for the Pirates, who trailed by three at the time.

Leading off against Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase, a three-time All-Star who took the hill with 39 saves on the year, McCutchen worked a 2-0 count, avoiding a pitch close to the head in the process.

Clase, whose ERA read 0.58 entering the game, delivered a cutter down the plate that registered 100 mph, but McCutchen put a good swing on it, resulting in a line-drive, opposite-field home run.

Emmanuel Clase’s gives up his second HR of the season to Andrew McCutchen the other way.

He’s still got it. #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/mcHwUXubtb

— SkenesMuse (@PaulSkenesMuse) August 31, 2024

It was only the second homer of the year Clase had allowed.

“Good swings — really good swings,” said manager Derek Shelton, who watched both of McCutchen’s hits on TV at Progressive Field after being ejected in the fourth inning. “Clase got his 40th save and became the all-time saves leader in the history of this franchise. That’s a tough (at-bat) — it’s 100 (mph) moving hard.”

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