Pirates/MLB category, Page 174

The Pittsburgh Pirates have scored five runs in the ninth inning of their two losses in the past two nights to the Chicago Cubs — a total of one in the other 16. Sounds like a team that doesn’t quit. Actually, right now that’s the best remark you can make...

The Pittsburgh Pirates lost another starting pitcher Saturday night when Mitch Keller left the game at Wrigley Field in the third inning. Keller, who allowed home runs to Ian Happ and Javier Baez earlier in the inning, threw a 1-0 pitch wide and in the dirt to the Chicago Cubs’...

The airplane lands. Players get on buses that speed directly to the hotel. Pittsburgh Pirates players are expected to spend all of their free time, eat all their meals and attend meetings in the hotel. Some don’t dare venture into a buddy’s room, even playing video games remotely. The smart...

Josh Bell hopes five swings of the bat in the ninth inning Friday night will ignite the Pittsburgh Pirates’ offense. But back-to-back home runs by Colin Moran and Bell couldn’t turn around the Pirates’ fortunes in a 6-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs (5-2) at Wrigley Field. Bell, who displayed...

A week into the regular season, the Pittsburgh Pirates already have learned how rapidly conditions can change while trying to play during a pandemic. For instance, while traveling to Wrigley Field for a three-game series that starts Friday night, the Pirates wore the more protective N95 masks medical personnel often...

A week into Major League Baseball’s return, we are already seeing some interesting trends in the fantasy sports world. So far, most of them aren’t great for the Pirates. Especially when you look at their bullpen and batting order. In our weekly fantasy sports podcast, Jeff Erickson and I dive...

After no live sports for months, all of a sudden Pittsburgh sports fans must choose between watching two local teams at the same time. The region’s cable sports network is going to handle coverage of both. A new alternate channel, PIT2, will provide coverage of two Pittsburgh Pirates games next...

The Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t quite put their finger on what went wrong Wednesday night against Brandon Woodruff and the Milwaukee Brewers, just like they couldn’t quite make much contact. Not that they didn’t search for answers. “Um,” Pirates third baseman Phillip Evans said, “I think he was just missing our...

During the Pirates’ rebooted training camp at PNC Park, starting pitcher Mitch Keller identified two specific goals to hone his arsenal. • Develop a changeup. • Get the spin and movement on his fastball to equal its often-electric velocity. So far, so good to start Year 2 of his big-league...

When Derek Shelton plants five players in the outfield grass — baseball teams normally use three — he is not trying to change the essence of the game or attract attention. The Pittsburgh Pirates employ a team of analysts and coaches who study where opposing batters are likely to hit...

To say Brandon Woodruff was stingy against the Pittsburgh Pirates is an understatement. The Milwaukee Brewers right-hander was downright selfish in silencing their bats with swing-and-miss and soft contact. When Woodruff wasn’t striking out the Pirates – he had 10 Ks – he refused to let them hit balls out...

Derek Shelton sounds ready to ride the roller coaster with the Pittsburgh Pirates, experiencing the highs and lows of being a major-league manager in a three-day span with plenty of firsts. He got the thrill of his first victory on Sunday, the agony of watching his team blow a four-run...

If you are a Pirates fan who has ever been to PNC Park, you know who Joe Klimchak is. You may not know his last name off the top of your head. But you know his face. And his voice. Klimchak is the longtime Pirates in-game host at the stadium....

Steelers and Pirates fans shouldn’t be mad about anything. Because this week’s “U mad, bro?” is coming a day early. I was looking at the rest of the week’s schedule and realized it was best if we just got our rage out a little earlier than normal. Because, apparently, a...

With trust in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen fading, Geoff Hartlieb and Nick Burdi stepped onto the mound Tuesday night and offered hope in an 8-6 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park. Both pitchers recorded firsts while helping the Pirates recover from a 6-2 deficit they faced in the...

The Pittsburgh Pirates made a pair of moves to bolster their struggling bullpen Tuesday, placing right-handed relievers Kyle Crick and Clay Holmes on the 10-day injured list. Crick has a right shoulder strain, Holmes a right forearm strain. To replace them on the 30-man major league roster, the Pirates recalled...

As the rain delay stretched past an hour, Chad Kuhl had a sense that he would be pitching when play resumed at the Pittsburgh Pirates’ home opener Monday night at PNC Park. Then manager Derek Shelton called the right-hander into his office, confirming both his suspicions and his comeback. “That...

The Indianapolis Indians, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, are forming a committee to explore the appropriateness of their nickname. The team added that it will also gather community input. Professional sports teams have received backlash for nicknames considered offensive, and the NFL’s Washington team has dropped its Redskins...

Plain and simple, the Pittsburgh Pirates blew a big cushion in the ninth inning to lose their home opener to the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-5, in 11 innings on Monday night at PNC Park. But it was more than that. The Pirates wasted so many positive moments, only to see the...

Curiosity. That’s what drew me so deeply into 2020’s coronavirus-delayed first weekend of Major League Baseball. Well, that, and desperation for any sort of live sports whatsoever. Just having the games back is what mattered most. Fans in the stands or not. I wasn’t eagerly looking forward to what “Pandemic...

This was a home opener like never before for the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing in a pandemic Monday night with no fans at PNC Park and enduring a one hour, 42-minute rain delay in the second inning. If that wasn’t weird enough, the Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers got their first taste...