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Andrew McCutchen[2] hadn't even had multiple hits in a game since April 6, so a three-homer game was a nice pick-me-up for the Pittsburgh Pirates[3]' offense. He had only three hits (all singles) in 23 at-bats in his Past six games.

McCutchen was in the midst of his second straight April slump, but snapped out of it in a big way. According Elias Sports Bureau research, he's the fourth player in Pirates history to have multiple three-homer games, joining Willie Stargell (4), Ralph Kiner (4) and Roberto Clemente (2).

His first two home runs were 430 feet and 444 feet. It's the first time in his career that he hit two 430-foot home runs in the same game.

McCutchen hit as many home runs in this game as the Braves have in 674 at-bats this season.

A three-homer game in Coors Field is not a rarity. This was the 19th since the ballpark opened in 1995, the most in the majors since that time. But it's only the second one in April, when the conditions are usually colder. The other was by Todd Hollandsworth against the Diamondbacks in 2001.

What was wrong?

As the heat map above shows, McCutchen was struggling just about everywhere, except for the sliver of success on the outer-third of the plate. Two of the three home runs came on outer-third pitches.

The biggest issue that's troubling McCutchen is his performance against inner-half pitches. He's hitting .184 against them this season (.226 against right-handed pitchers, 0-for-7 against lefties). He's hit .290 or better against those pitches in every season of his career.

This is the second straight season that McCutchen has gotten off to a slow start. He hit .194 last April when he was bothered by a knee injury[4].

Elias Sports Bureau Stat of the Day

Mccutchen is the second player to hit three home runs in a game immediately after a four-strikeout game since strikeouts were first tracked for hitters (1910 in the NL, 1913 in the American League), according to Elias research. The other is Tyler Houston for the 2000 Brewers.