If any of the unhappiest fans today were able to bring themselves to tune in to the game today, they probably feel a lot better. As much as it may hurt to lose Nate McLouth, his replacement Andrew McCutchen had about as good a big-league debut as we could've possibly hoped for. And to the "fans" who (apparently) booed him--get over yourselves. Like it's McCutchen's fault about the trade. (hisjazziness points out in the comments that some of the booing may have been coming from Mets fans.)
McCutchen singled and scored in his first at bat, and it mostly just stayed good from there. The Pirates drove Mike Pelfrey out of the game early, scoring nine runs against him with a blizzard of singles and walks. After flying out in his second at-bat, McCutchen walked to lead off the fourth and scored again. He also hit a nice 0-2 single off J.J. Putz in the seventh, bringing home Ramon Vazquez for his first big-league RBI, then got his first steal by swiping second without a throw, and he came around to score for the third time when Nyjer Morgan (who might have had an inside-the-park homer if he'd hustled the whole way) hit a long triple to right-center. It was a tremendously exciting and promising game for McCutchen overall.
Oh, and Steven Jackson looked great racking up ground ball outs in the seventh and eighth, and Vazquez had four hits. Also, Andy LaRoche left the game in the seventh after taking a fastball off the knee. (I've seen the injury described as a "bruise" and a "contusion," so it appears he'll be fine.) But today was all about McCutchen, who looked, for one game at least, like he's going to be a big part of the Pirates' future.