Kevin Gorman stories, Page 48

When Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz blistered a baseball at an exit velocity of 122.4 mph against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, it smashed a major-league record for the hardest hit in the Statcast era. Believe it or not, Cruz didn’t clear the fence. Cruz crushed Kyle Wright’s first-pitch slider...

The Pittsburgh Pirates will open the 2023 season with a three-game series at Cincinnati starting March 30 and, for the first time, host the Chicago White Sox in the home opener April 7. The Pirates announced their 2023 regular-season schedule, which will feature visits from 22 teams as part of...

Derek Shelton was excited about the prospect of Ke’Bryan Hayes returning to the Pittsburgh Pirates lineup after watching the third baseman run the bases, take batting practice and do infield drills. When Hayes stood next to the Pirates manager in the home dugout at PNC Park in the first inning...

When Michael Chavis homered off Max Fried in the second inning, it gave the impression that the Pittsburgh Pirates had a chance at hitting the Atlanta Braves left-hander. It was but a blip. Fried retired the next 16 batters, and the Braves batted around the order in a five-run fifth...

After missing 10 games with a mid-back muscle strain, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes is back with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates activated Hayes from the 10-day injured list Wednesday, and he is in the starting lineup for their game against the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park. The Pirates were 2-8...

Roansy Contreras made the deepest start of his major league career, going seven innings for the first time against the star-studded lineup of the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves. Oneil Cruz simply went deep, crushing a solo home run with a 41-degree launch angle and at an exit velocity...

The Pittsburgh Pirates have marveled at how Oneil Cruz dropped to one knee to hit a pitch in the dirt for his first major-league home run, used his extended reach to connect on pitches far outside the strike zone and set a team Statcast record with a 118.4-mph single. What...

When asked about the progress the Pittsburgh Pirates have made under his direction, general manager Ben Cherington painted a picture that was — quite literally — worth almost a thousand words. Nine hundred sixty-one, to be exact. Cherington started his soliloquy Friday by touching on a farm system whose talent...

Jake Fraley hit a solo home run and a two-run double, so the Pittsburgh Pirates knew there was trouble when the Cincinnati Reds desginated hitter was almost as dangerous when he wasn’t swinging the bat. That Fraley went 2 for 2 with three walks, four runs scored and three RBIs...

The Pittsburgh Pirates continued to shuffle their bullpen, making a move before Sunday’s game to add a left-hander to the mix. The Pirates selected the contract of lefty Cam Vieaux and optioned right-hander Yohan Ramirez. To make room on the 40-man roster, they designated catcher Jose Godoy for assignment. Vieaux,...

When Bligh Madris saw the cutter coming, he didn’t hesitate to swing and send it to right field. What went down as a simple single in the seventh inning Friday night was more monumental to Madris. For the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie outfielder, the hit not only marked the end of...

When the Cincinnati Reds visited the Pittsburgh Pirates, it became a battle to stay out of the basement in the NL Central. The Pirates needed a rally in the bottom of the ninth to do it. Kevin Newman doubled to tie the score, and Michael Chavis hit a bases-loaded single...

With the Pittsburgh Pirates being on pace to lose 99 games, general manager Ben Cherington used the word “rebuild” in public for the first time and gave a vote of confidence Friday to Derek Shelton. The Pirates manager made waves earlier this week during a guest appearance on 93.7 FM,...

The Pittsburgh Pirates provided a fitting finale to a series that started with insults by Dennis Eckersley but ended with a final score that should make the Boston Red Sox broadcaster choke on his clam chowder. Not for nothingness. Bryan Reynolds hit a pair of two-run homers — including the...

Roansy Contreras was making his first major-league start in more than a month when the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie right-hander ran into trouble in the second inning Wednesday night against the Boston Red Sox. Contreras was experiencing command issues and, after giving up three runs on four hits and a walk,...

When Bryan Reynolds followed Kevin Newman’s leadoff single by hitting a towering, two-run home run in the first inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates looked like a team ready to snap its five-game losing streak. It was but a tease. Rich Hill was the model of efficiency thereafter. He allowed only one...

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a hodgepodge of reactions to Boston Red Sox color analyst Dennis Eckersley’s harsh criticisms that were trending on Twitter during the broadcast of Tuesday night’s game. Where some shrugged it off as nothingness, Pirates reliever Wil Crowe fired back by calling Eckersley “bush league” for taking...

When Chase De Jong got the call in the bullpen to be ready to pitch the third inning after Pittsburgh Pirates starter Mitch Keller was pulled for shoulder fatigue, De Jong knew exactly what was expected of him. Facing a Boston Red Sox lineup that scored five runs in the...

The Pittsburgh Pirates knew something was wrong with Mitch Keller even before the right-hander couldn’t get an out against the first six Boston Red Sox batters he faced. Keller wasn’t in pain so much as he was feeling and showing signs of fatigue, which sapped speed from his fastball, spin...

The back spasms that prevented Ke’Bryan Hayes from playing in San Francisco forced the Pittsburgh Pirates to place the third baseman on the 10-day injured list Tuesday. Hayes appeared to aggravate his back when he was running out a grounder that resulted in a double play to end the seventh...

As their season spirals out of control, the Pittsburgh Pirates know that they can count on one constant: Win or lose, the games will be close. And they will lose a majority of them. The Pirates (45-70) have had 70 games decided by two runs or fewer but have won...

The Pittsburgh Pirates expected a wild finish after rallying from a five-run deficit — only to allow the San Francisco Giants tie the game — then scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning on an error. Just when the Pirates thought they were about to avoid...

Logan Webb toyed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the San Francisco Giants right-hander relied on off-speed and breaking pitches that danced around the strike zone but managed to miss their bats. The Pirates had no answer for Webb, even when Giants manager Gabe Kapler left him in with the bases...