SEATTLE -- Andrew McCutchen has his luggage and his first home run in a Yankees uniform.
After a frustrating off-day that involved a lengthy wait when his bag was lost in transit, the outfielder cracked his first home run for his new club in the third inning of Friday's 4-0 win over the Mariners at Safeco Field.
"It felt awesome," McCutchen said. "It's the sixth game for me here, but it feels good to get a big hit like that and it being a homer. I just hope something like that can get you going and start throwing the hits out there after that."
The two-run shot to left field off lefty James Paxton was McCutchen's 16th of the season. McCutchen had started his Yankees career with one hit in 21 at-bats (.048) following his Aug. 31 acquisition from the Giants in exchange for infielder Abiatal Avelino and right-hander Juan DePaula.
"I was having good swings, taking good passes on balls and grinding out at-bats," McCutchen said. "Overall, I wasn't frustrated. The hits will come, the hits will fall. I've just got to keep going up there and battling and having good at-bats. I know that's going to happen. It was good to have a big hit like I did tonight."
He went 1-for-9 during the Yanks' three-game series in Oakland, notching an infield single on Monday for his first hit with the Bombers.
"I think the at-bats have been good from him," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "We've seen him obviously take some walks, and that's been something he's done all year -- really, throughout his career."
After the series against the Athletics, McCutchen's bags were loaded onto the team's charter flight from California, but they never made it to the team hotel; they were instead delivered to Safeco Field.
As he amusingly chronicled on social media, McCutchen wore a hotel bathrobe and waited hours for his clothing to be found, at one point opting to wear his formal attire from the flight around town.
"They couldn't find it, long story short," McCutchen said. "Didn't know where it was at. It ended up being here at the ballpark. They brought it to me, I got it around 8 p.m. Just chilling in my robe the majority of the day, really."
The story did not escape the Yankees' resident social-media star, Didi Gregorius. In his postgame victory tweet, Gregorius used an emoji of a man wearing a bathrobe to celebrate McCutchen's homer.
"Overall, it's been kind of hectic, but it's been great at the same time, being over here," McCutchen said. "We've got a playoff team, and so it's a lot of fun."