Great company: Andrew McCutchen homers to tie Roberto Clemente among Pirates' leaders

As franchise icons and jersey numbers go, Andrew McCutchen ranks behind Roberto Clemente in both categories.

When it comes to home runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates, however, they are now tied.

McCutchen hit a two-run homer against the San Diego Padres on Sunday, and his 240th with the Pirates ties the legendary right fielder for third-most in club history behind fellow Hall of Famers Ralph Kiner (301) and Willie Stargell (475).

240 home runs as a Pirate for #22 ????

Andrew McCutchen has tied Roberto Clemente for third on the Pirates' all-time home runs list. pic.twitter.com/iHEw2UUVLs

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 1, 2025

After Oneil Cruz drew a one-out, full-count walk and stole second base in the third inning, the 38-year-old McCutchen battled Padres starter Randy Vasquez by fouling off four pitches before driving a 2-2 curveball 365 feet to left field for his fifth homer of the season.

Pirates manager Don Kelly called it “unbelievable” to witness McCutchen tie Clemente.

“I get chills thinking about it,” Kelly said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “That’s iconic territory. For Cutch to tie him, he’s had a heck of a career, he’s been a heck of a player and he’s having a good season for us, too. He’s hit some big home runs in his career for the Pirates and did it again today. … He’s climbing up the ranks in Pirates history on a lot of different things. To tie Roberto, heck of an accomplishment for him.”

After not going deep since April 27 at the Los Angeles Dodgers, McCutchen homered in back-to-back games. He led off the fifth inning of Saturday’s 5-0 win over the Padres by sending Dylan Cease’s first-pitch slider 396 feet into the second deck in left field at Petco Park. McCutchen traded an autographed bat and ball to a fan in exchange for his historic home run ball.

“I didn’t know it was going to take me this long to hit five homers,” McCutchen said, “but it also took me 10 games to get one hit to get to 2,000. … I like to get them out of the way and not think about them.”

A five-time All-Star and 2013 National League MVP, McCutchen was a first-round pick (No. 11 overall) by the Pirates in 2005 who made his debut in June 2009. He played his first nine of his 17 major league seasons in Pittsburgh before being traded to the San Francisco Giants in 2018. McCutchen played for the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers before returning to the Pirates as a free agent in 2023.

“It’s great to be in that position,” McCutchen said. “To be doing it the first nine years and then be gone for five and still come back and have an opportunity to do it, it’s unique in a sense.”

It was one of several significant milestones for McCutchen involving the Pirates career leaders. He passed Hall of Famer Arky Vaughan for ninth place on the franchise hits list and moved past Jason Kendall on MLB’s all-time hits list this weekend, ranking 190th with 2,198. McCutchen now has 324 career home runs, which ranks 10th among active players and ties him with Gary Carter and Lance Parrish for 130th place all-time.

“I can’t help but try to put my career numbers in with that and see where I’m at,” McCutchen said. “It’s cool Pirates-wise but my whole career with those numbers where I’m at now. That’s what I like to do. To have done it in a Pirates uniform, it’s nice.”