Pirates/MLB category, Page 214

Luis Escobar Sr. quickly forgot about the dominoes game. Luis Jr. was calling from the United States with the news every father of a promising baseball player yearns to hear: His son was going to the big leagues. “When I called my father, he was in the midst of playing...

Monday and Tuesday, Pittsburgh Pirates fans have a player who legitimately puts the “Star” in All-Star to cheer on during the festivities surrounding Major League Baseball’s midsummer classic. That isn’t always the case. From the likes of Evan Meek to Ed Sprague to Carlos Garcia to Mike Williams (the latter,...

Jameson Taillon had to get a grasp of his injury then get a grip. If the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander is going to pitch again this season, he first has to pick up a baseball. That’s how far along Taillon is two months into his road to recovery from a right...

INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 44-42) swept Toledo (Tigers) in a doubleheader. The Indians won Game 1, 4-3. DH Gregory Polanco (.333) was 1 for 3 with a first-inning, two-run home run. It was Polanco’s second game in his rehab assignment since being placed on the 10-day injured list June 22 with posterior...

Trevor Williams will be placed on MLB’s paternity list Saturday and won’t make his scheduled start for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Milwaukee Brewers. Instead, Dario Agarzal will make his third career start after his recall from Triple-A Indianapolis. Agarzal (1-0) has allowed only three earned runs in 10 innings...

The Pittsburgh Pirates opened their three-game series with the first-place Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night with an interesting starting lineup. All nine players, including starting pitcher Steven Brault (.350 in 20 at-bats), were hitting at least .275. And manager Clint Hurdle was so sure of his lineup’s productivity, he felt...

Felipe Vazquez spent more time trying to get a teammate elected as an All-Star Game starter than he did worrying why he was snubbed. Vazquez, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ closer, and starting pitcher Joe Musgrove went around the city, hoping to convince people to vote for Josh Bell as the National...

Jameson Taillon said he plans to pitch again this season, but the Pittsburgh Pirates ace first has to throw. Taillon’s road to recovery will take a big step this weekend, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said, when the 27-year-old right-hander plays catch for the first time since going on the injured...

Before the Milwaukee Brewers met the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Friday night, Christian Yelich took aim at the Allegheny River. Hitting off batting practice pitcher Pat Shine, Yelich was preparing for the Home Run Derby on Monday in Cleveland. Christian Yelich did a practice round for the Home...

Perhaps nothing would have happened had Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon been free to charge the Pittsburgh Pirates dugout during the teams’ Fourth of July blow-up. But Maddon was visibly angry that Pirates pitcher Jordan Lyles was throwing high and inside to his batters, and Clint Hurdle did not back...

“Let’s get on the Pirate ship” indeed. MLB Network’s Mark DeRosa seems to be pretty confident in the Pittsburgh Pirates. In a segment that aired Friday morning on the network’s morning show, “MLB Central,” the former journeyman utility player outlined all of the reasons the Pirates should be able to...

It is difficult to gauge what was most explosive in Pittsburgh on this Fourth of July: the annual fireworks, Joe Maddon’s temper or the Chicago Cubs offense. The Cubs tagged Jordan Lyles and reliever Clay Holmes for four home runs and nine extra-base hits in avoiding a four-game sweep by...

With the Pittsburgh Pirates going for a four-game sweep, things apparently reached a boiling point for Chicago Cubs manager Joe Madden on Thursday. Maddon was ejected during the top of the fourth inning of the Fourth of July game at PNC Park, and the veteran manager stormed out of the...

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle refuses to spend his All-Star break conducting a big-picture midseason evaluation. “I’ll unplug the whole time,” he said of the three-day break. But that doesn’t mean an all-encompassing look at his team isn’t being done. It’s just taking place a little earlier. “The 50,000-foot evaluation...

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had one of baseball’s best bullpens during the past three-plus weeks, and the unit has been missing one of its best arms. That player appears close to rejoining his fellow relievers. Keone Kela experienced no setbacks during a bullpen throwing session Wednesday. Kela has been on...

As play began on the Fourth of July, the last-place team in the National League Central is closer to the division lead than the second-place team in any other MLB division. It’s shaping up to be that kind of season and that kind of stretch drive for the Pittsburgh Pirates...

INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 42-41) lost 7-6 to Louisville (Reds). RF Trayvon Robinson (.338) was 3 for 3 with a double, a triple and two RBIs and a run. CF Jason Martin (.244) had two hits, an RBI and a run. LF Darnell Sweeney (.271) hit an eighth-inning, two-run double to cut...

There was nothing special about how the baseball came off the bats during the Pittsburgh Pirates’ ninth-inning rally Wednesday night at PNC Park. The trigger of the 6-5 victory – the Pirates’ third in a row against the Chicago Cubs — was a one-out walk on a 3-2 count to...

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jameson Taillon, who has missed two months with no timetable for his return, received good news recently when new images of his elbow strain showed healing. “I’m kind of encouraged by it,” he said Wednesday. But he is far from pitching in a game. He had...

Back when Clint Hurdle was a player, he remembers five-man bullpens that offered fewer options for managers and more opportunities for starters to complete nine innings. But as the Pittsburgh Pirates manager noted Wednesday afternoon, that was “a long time ago.” “Now, you have seven-man bullpens, sometimes, eight-man bullpens (the...

The Pittsburgh Pirates reached an important milestone Tuesday night with a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs, one that tends to be symbolic of (and necessary for) a successful season. They reached the .500 mark at PNC Park. Lost amid the hoopla over Adam Frazier’s four-double game Monday and seven...

It’s been a week since I’ve checked my inbox for “U mad, bro.” And a lot has built up while I was on vacation. Penguins fans chime in on the Phil Kessel trade to Arizona. Pirates fans don’t seem to like the idea of dealing Felipe Vazquez. And Neal Huntington...

When Josh Bell bashed three home runs against the Chicago Cubs on Monday, it never occurred on the Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman that it happened on Bobby Bonilla Day. In what has become the longest running joke in Major League Baseball, the New York Mets pay the retired slugger a...

The evening storm that blew through the region Tuesday considerably cooled what had been a hot, humid day. It had little effect, though, on the simmering Adam Frazier – nor on the rest of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Frazier homered and went 4 for 4 a day after tying a major-league...