McCutchen reaches 1,000-RBI milestone in win

CINCINNATI -- There may not have been a curtain call or drawn out moment of appreciation, but in the fifth inning of Friday night’s contest, Andrew McCutchen reached a career milestone that few have plateaued in their careers.

With little fanfare from the crowd on hand at Great American Ball Park, the 34-year-old outfielder recorded his 1,000th career RBI via a fifth inning fielder's choice off Reds starter Luis Cessa, scoring first baseman Rowdy Tellez from third. Two innings later, McCutchen added to his memorable night when he lined a two-run double down the left-field line, scoring Hunter Renfroe and Kolten Wong to pad the Brewers’ lead in their eventual 5-3 victory.

“[I’ve] been doing it for a while, and for the most part, been doing it all right,” the outfielder said. “It’s something I don’t take lightly. [I’m] happy to be in this position to do it.”

With the Phillies defeating the Braves Friday night and the Padres falling to the Rockies, Milwaukee sits two games back from the NL Wild Card, gaining half a game as San Diego slipped into the third spot. Ten of the club's final 12 games come against sub-.500 opponents. The Brewers also head home for the final nine games of the season after the weekend in Cincinnati.

Of the over 20,000 players to play a Major League Baseball game, McCutchen is just the 296th to reach the 1,000 RBI milestone. The three RBIs put him in a tie with former Blue Jays star George Bell for 294th in Major League history. McCutchen is the 11th active player to reach the milestone as well.

“Hitting milestones are great. Crossing another one of the list is nice, [but] it’s not like a farewell thing for me. I want to keep playing,” McCutchen said. “Hopefully the more I play, the more milestones I hit.”

McCutchen is slashing .240/.313/.393 with 17 home runs and 69 RBIs in his 14th season in the big leagues.

“It’s longevity too … being good for a long time,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s playing a lot of games, being available, being healthy, being in that lineup as much as you possibly can, and then doing a lot of damage.”

McCutchen hasn't tallied a 100 RBI season during his career. Instead, he’s relied on staying healthy for over a decade while putting up impressive offensive seasons on top of it.

“I take pride in [being] on the field. My body’s been holding up well, and I’ve been feeling good,” McCutchen said. “I just attest that to the way that I train and those trainers in there. Strength strainers, the [personal trainers], all the people who have helped me get out there. I don’t take their job lightly at all.

“It’s not just me. It takes a team, it takes an army to be able to go out there and stay healthy.”

The majority of McCutchen’s 1,002 RBIs were accumulated in Pittsburgh, where he played the first nine seasons of his big league career. During his time as a Pirate, McCutchen played in five All-Star Games, earned four Silver Sluggers and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2013 after batting .317 and driving in 84 RBIs. Since then, McCutchen spent time with the Phillies, Giants and Yankees before signing with Milwaukee this past offseason. McCutchen’s 97 RBIs hit against the Reds are his third-most against any team.

Brewers starting pitcher Eric Lauer lasted just 2 2/3 innings in his Friday night start as he returned to the rotation, but this time around, he was in the same dugout as McCutchen during his most recent heroics.

“He got plenty of RBIs off of me. I contributed to those,” Lauer pointed out. “He’s a great hitter, he’s always been a great hitter. Like I’ve been saying since we got him, I’m just really glad he’s on our team.”

The 1,000-RBI mark isn't the only career milestone the outfielder has in sight. He’ll enter Saturday’s game just 13 home runs from 300 in his career and 56 hits away from 2,000.