Pirates/MLB category, Page 152

The Pittsburgh Pirates traded Edgar Santana to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations Friday, four days after designating the right-handed reliever for assignment. Santana, 29, was 3-4 with a 3.31 ERA and 1.198 WHIP in 88 relief appearances over two seasons. He underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2018 and...

It had been a long time since something went right for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In fact, pretty much everything since the end of the eighth inning in Atlanta on Oct. 14, 1992 had been downhill. They lost their last shot at making the World Series. Their MVP went to San...

After several minutes of postgame handshakes, hugs and enough posing for pictures to fill several photo albums, it was time. David Bednar had to walk away from the crowd gathered along the left-field foul line at PNC Park. It wasn’t easy for Bednar, a Mars graduate, to leave his parents,...

The first game with fans back at PNC Park was emotional for Derek Shelton, who spent his first season as Pittsburgh Pirates manager playing in an empty ballpark on the way to the worst record in baseball. So Shelton’s heart got pumping when the crowd came to life in the...

On the day Derek Shelton was introduced as Pittsburgh Pirates manager, a photo captured the moment he took his family through the dugout and onto the field at PNC Park for the first time. Shelton has the framed photo hanging in his office, and it’s the closest his family has...

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2021 home opener is Thursday afternoon at PNC Park. They host the Chicago Cubs at 1:35 p.m. The first regular-season game ever played at PNC Park — an 8-2 Pirates loss to the Cincinnati Reds — was April 9, 2001. That means the 20th anniversary of the...

From the first pitch, the Pittsburgh Pirates knew they were in for a long day. And it didn’t matter whether it was starter Chad Kuhl or reliever Chris Stratton on the mound. Tyler Naquin hit Kuhl’s first pitch over the left-field fence to lead off a five-run first inning, and...

The first Pirates home game usually brings a sense of excitement and renewal for players and fans. But not many are more excited about fans being allowed back into PNC Park than Kyle Martin, a server at the North Shore Tavern on Federal Street across from the ballpark. Restaurants and...

The left wrist injury that sent Ke’Bryan Hayes to the 10-day injured list has limited the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie third baseman’s baseball activities to only throwing and not catching the ball or taking swings. Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday the club is “overall encouraged” by Hayes’...

Facing a two-touchdown deficit at the Cincinnati Reds, the Pittsburgh Pirates were searching for someone — anyone, really — to deliver a highlight in a game that was the lowlight of this young season. Phillip Evans provided a pair, first by breaking up the shutout with a solo home run...

Steelers fans are mad at the team. Pirates fans are mad at the team. Steelers fans are mad at me for being mad at the team. Pirates fans are mad at me for being mad at the team. And everybody is mad at Skip Bayless. So, you know, a fairly...

While the first game of the season at PNC Park is traditionally called the home opener for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Colin Moran celebrates it as a tradition to treasure for another reason. It is the day he always hits a home run, if not two. Since joining the Pirates as...

With Trevor Cahill making his Pittsburgh Pirates debut against Cincinnati Reds left-hander Wade Miley, it marked a matchup of crafty veteran pitchers. That’s what worried Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “The crafty pitcher is the one that gives a hitting coach nightmares,” Shelton said, “because you never know what you’re going...

Derek Shelton is acutely aware Gregory Polanco is scuffling at the plate, but that isn’t why the Pittsburgh Pirates manager didn’t start him in right field Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds. Shelton said Polanco had a scheduled day off as the Pirates faced their first left-hander in Wade Miley....

I watched the Pittsburgh Pirates’ season-opening series at Wrigley Field over the weekend, and it got me thinking about the Steelers. Yikes. If that’s not an alarming open to any column about the local football team I don’t know what else could be. Now before all of you “Defend the...

The three home runs the Pittsburgh Pirates hit Monday night at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati were encouraging. Until you understand reality: There was nobody on base for all three, and that was the situation for most of night. The Pirates had two hits in the first inning, two in...

The Pittsburgh Pirates exchanged right-handed pitchers Monday, acquiring Kyle Keller from the Los Angeles Angels for undisclosed cash considerations and designating Edgar Santana for assignment. Keller, 27, was added to the 40-man roster and assigned to the Pirates’ alternate training site. He made his major league debut with the Miami...

The Pittsburgh Pirates will keep PNC Park attendance at 25% capacity for the first 12 games of the 2021 season, according to an official. The official believed capacity could be increased for May games, but “nothing has been determined yet.” As part of easing of some covid mitigation efforts that...

Pitcher Jose Berrios of the Minnesota Twins had a no-hitter going Saturday: 6 innings, zero hits, zero walks, 12 strikeouts. (It wasn’t a perfect game. Berrios hit a batter.) Berrios was pulled by manager Rocco Baldelli. He had thrown 84 pitches. Every manager in MLB would do the same. That...

The Pittsburgh Pirates are counting on Mitch Keller to prop up a starting rotation that has been retooled seriously after the trades of Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon and an injury to Steven Brault. But the first look at Keller in a game that mattered was a brief one Sunday....

Ke’Bryan Hayes’ strained left wrist is worse than it first appeared, and the Pittsburgh Pirates placed him on the 10-day injured list. When manager Derek Shelton met with reporters on a video conference call early Sunday afternoon, he listed Hayes as “day-to-day” after X-rays of the wrist were negative and...

When Luis Oviedo took the mound in the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs, he wasn’t in awe that he was pitching in his major league debut at Wrigley Field. Even if he had never pitched above Single-A, Oviedo is confident in his belief that this is exactly where he...

The Pittsburgh Pirates celebrated when Ke’Bryan Hayes started the season with a bang by hitting a home run on Opening Day, as the rookie third baseman showed he could be a catalyst for the young club. So, it’s understandable that the Chicago Cubs capitalized when Hayes left the game with...