McCutchen's 2-run homer in 14th inning sends Pirates past Cardinals

Andrew McCutchen made all the missed calls, all the drama, all the adversity compelling subplots.

McCutchen launched a two-run, walk-off homer in the 14th inning to lift the Pirates to a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at 12:20 a.m. Sunday morning.

He was mobbed at home plate after he smashed a pitch from Nick Greenwood, called up Saturday from Triple-A, for his fifth career walk-off home run. The ball landed in the center-field bushes at PNC Park to score Neil Walker and help the Pirates overcome a one-run deficit and two critical extra strikes received by the Cardinals.

“I enjoyed that one. It was definitely a moment,” McCutchen said. “Trying to sustain an at-bat, not let my emotions get the best of me. Just calm down and wait on a pitch to hit.”

The Pirates are 31⁄2 games behind the Cardinals.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle watched most of the five-hour, four-minute game from a clubhouse couch after being ejected in the second inning.

“We had grit all over,” Hurdle said. “When something doesn't go right, we keep playing the game.”

With two outs in the top of the 14th, Jhonny Peralta swung at a two-strike Vance Worley pitch, and those remaining at PNC Park believed he missed. Home-plate umpire Vic Carapazza ruled he fouled off the ball. The replay was inconclusive. Peralta followed by singling in Matt Carpenter for a 5-4 lead.

It was perhaps the second critical foul tip ruling Caparzza got wrong.

With two outs in the second, Mark Reynolds swung and missed a two-strike A.J. Burnett curveball. The replay showed Reynolds did not make contact, but the play was not reviewable.

Reynolds sent the next pitch into the second tier of the left-field bleachers. Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli was enraged.

Carapazza threw out Cervelli, who had to be restrained by assistant coaches Dave Jauss and Brad Fischer. Hurdle also was ejected by Carapazza.

“Both times, it would have been the third out,” Hurdle said of the calls. “(Cervelli) is upset; let him go. For me, no game awareness. ... It was wrong. He said he said something personal? You know what, we are professionals. He heard a foul tip? There was no foul tip.”

Carapazza is known for having a quick trigger. Last season, he threw out two Texas Rangers players for arguing balls and strikes and ejected Nationals manager Matt Williams and infielder Asdrubal Cabrera in a National League Division Series game.

Carapazza declined to speak to a pool reporter. Crew chief Larry Vanover said Saturday night's ejections were for language and said Carapazza heard a foul tip.

Reynolds struck again in the 10th when he did not require an extra strike. His second homer of the game gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead, but the Pirates answered in the bottom of the inning as Jung Ho Kang led off by banging a triple off the Clemente wall against Trevor Rosenthal. With one out, Chris Stewart singled against a drawn-in infield to tie game 4-4.

The Pirates fell into a 3-0 hole thanks in part to more poor defensive play by Pedro Alvarez. By advanced and traditional defensive measurement, he is having the worst defensive season by a first baseman in recent memory.

Alvarez committed his 14th error of the season in the fifth inning when he charged a chopping grounder off the bat Jason Heyward, a ball which went under his glove. He may have had a chance to get Carpenter at home. But Carpenter scored without a throw, and Heyward reached safely to extend the Cardinals' lead to 3-0.

Alvarez already owned the most errors by a first baseman since Prince Fielder committed 15 for Milwaukee in 2009.

Alvarez also contributed to the Cardinals' second run in the third inning, hesitating on a ball to his right that allowed Carpenter to reach and eventually score.

Alvarez partially redeemed himself in the eighth.

Down by a run and with the tying run on second base, he faced left-hander Kevin Siegrist. Alvarez has a career .194 average against lefties, but he ripped a 96 mph fastball into center for a line-drive RBI that scored Kang.

Kang cut the Cardinals' lead to 3-2 in the eighth with a single to right field off Siegrist, scoring McCutchen.

Burnett belted the fourth home run of his career — and first since July 24, 2005, vs. Kevin Correa — off John Lackey in the fifth inning to cut the Cardinals' lead to 3-1.

Burnett pumped his fist as he rounded first, and as he cross home, he pointed toward the right-field upper deck where his sons were sitting.

PNC Park gave him the first of two ovations Saturday. His second came as his outing ended in the seventh. He allowed three runs over six innings, his ERA rising to 2.11.

“I love this team. They don't stop. Things aren't always going to go your way. It's baseball,” Burnett said. ‘You've got to put it behind you, keep battling. We're resilient, never stop. They never stop.”

Travis Sawchik is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at tsawchik@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Sawchik_Trib.