CHICAGO -- What's wrong with Andrew McCutchen?

The first answer to, essentially, that question came from McCutchen himself early Tuesday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

"Nothing that one good day at the plate can't solve," he replied.

And so it was, a few hours later, that McCutchen went 3 for 5 with a double, a walk, two RBIs and a steal as part of the 14-7 victory against the Chicago Cubs.

That followed a rare slump in which he was 3 for his past 28, had scored only 15 runs in five weeks, and had stolen only eight bases in two months.

"Felt really good," McCutchen would say, smiling afterward.

In the afternoon, he was asked if all the Pirates' losing was getting him down.

"No, not at all. You hate to lose. We all hate to lose. But, you know, we haven't really won yet, so that's part of the feeling. It would be a little more difficult if we were winning, then started to lose, and I was used to the winning. It would be a lot harder. And losing's still hard. But this isn't new."

He paused.

"It's bad to say that. But the fact is we've been here before, and we need to learn how to get out of it. We need to do that, and then it will be a whole new experience."

McCutchen's slump has dragged his average to nearly a season low at .277, though his on-base percentage remains a fairly healthy .354.

"I'm not getting the hits I want to get, as many as I was getting," he continued. "Nothing you can do about that except keep going out there and playing hard everyday. Eventually, things will turn for you. I'm not pressing. I'm having a pretty decent year right now, and I'm still getting on base."

And what about the steals?

McCutchen had 10 through April alone and now has 28. On Monday night, he stayed at first through 14 Carlos Zambrano pitches and never broke when a steal would have, as it turned out, resulted in a run. He stole one later in that game, though, and added another on the first pitch Tuesday.

"You have to understand the situations," he said. "I've said all along that, when I see that I can steal a base, that's when I'll go. There have been only a few instances where I went back into the dugout and said, 'Aw, I should've stolen that base.' "

Might Monday have been one of those?

"No. It was pretty slick, the dirt really muddy. Every time I slid back to the base, I was slipping every time. There have been small instances like that where something goes wrong or the pitcher's quick -- Zambrano's pretty quick -- or the score's 14-1. Pitchers quicken up when I'm on base."

• Starter Charlie Morton threw off flat ground in a special session focused entirely on fastballs. And no, bullpen catcher Heberto Andrade never had his signs shaken off. Pitching coach Ray Searage, standing behind Morton all through the session, said later with a smile, "I made sure of it."

• First baseman Jeff Clement, on the 15-day because of a shaky meniscus in the left knee, will go to Class AAA Indianapolis today to begin a rehabilitation stint. The goal, he said, will be to test the knee in advance of determining whether or not he needs surgery. He described the knee as "OK when I hit," but not so much with other activity.

• Manager John Russell explained right fielder Lastings Milledge's recent circuitous route-running by saying Milledge is having difficulty adjusting to the move from left field to right, made nearly three months ago. "Usually, it's the other way, where the right-to-left move is toughest," Russell said. "He's not as comfortable in right. We're having him make reads in BP, but it's just the first step."

• The Pirates will assign four prospects to the Arizona Fall League -- catcher Tony Sanchez, outfielder Andrew Lambo and infielders Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer -- all with the Mesa Solar Sox. The Pirates also have three pitching slots left for that team.

Colin Dunlap's blog on the Pirates is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.