Andrew McCutchen had a big Saturday Night in Pittsburgh

You have to be starting to get the feeling that the Pittsburgh Pirates are just having one of those special, memorable summers. Something just feels different. They’re gutting out wins – night after night – with a bunch of blue collar players and patchwork pieces.

Tonight on FOX Saturday Night Baseball was no different. The Pirates beat the Mets 4-2 at PNC Park, largely behind a big night from their star Andrew McCutchen. Cutch has had a solid, but short of spectacular first half. He’s hitting .300, but his power numbers are down. If the Pirates get anything close to an MVP-caliber second half from the guy, they’re going to the playoffs.

Here’s his 10th home run of the season which tied the game tonight for the Buccos. It was a shot, displaying that ‘power to all fields’ that scouts said McCutchen would develop:

An inning later, McCutchen would single in the go-ahead run. It would stand up. Jason Grilli locked down his 29th save of the season with a scoreless ninth.

Tonight my wife asked me if I had to bet money on it, who did I see going to the World Series. The simple answer would have been ‘I wouldn’t’ and right now, I definitely have no idea. But as I thought about it, I told her the Detroit Tigers and after a short amount of consideration, why not the damn Pittsburgh Pirates? They’re pretty sound in all facets of the game and I think they’re going to be even better in the second half.

As we approach the All-Star break, count me as one who thinks the Pirates have a legitimate shot at getting to the World Series this year. The Reds are fading, the Nationals are probably done, I don’t buy the Braves, the Dodgers still have a ways to go, and I think the Pirates just might have enough to take down the Cardinals in a long NLCS series. Call me crazy if you want. These guys have something going.