Pirates/MLB category, Page 93

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...

An ex-Steelers quarterback is on fire with his new team this preseason. The Roquan Smith dream seems to have died for Pittsburgh fans. The Ravens just can’t lose in August. And Pittsburgh has two champions in a pair of very unique sports. All that in Monday’s “First Call.” And the...

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...

INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 58-57) won 8-2 over Iowa (Cubs). C Carter Bins (.203) smacked a two-run homer. 2B Hoy Park (.228) hit a solo shot. 1B Brendt Citta (.229) was 2 for 3 with two RBIs. DH Jamie Ritchie (.237) also knocked in a run with a double. RHP Johan Oviedo...

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,...

The pain in his arm persisted. His velocity had dropped to what would be considered standard for a decent high school prospect. By the summer of 2016, Manny Banuelos had good reason to believe he had been cursed by the baseball gods. “I remember 2016, when I got released from...

Saturday evening’s game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds featured two teams battling to avoid beginning Sunday as the National League Central cellar dweller. After the Pirates’ walk-off win Friday, the Pirates and Reds were tied for last place, 20.5 games back of the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals. In...

INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 57-57) handled Iowa (Cubs), 6-2. 2B Ji-hwan Bae (.300) went 2 for 4 with a triple, two RBIs and his 10th stolen base. 1B Mason Martin (.206) went 1 for 3 with a walk, an RBI and his 12th stolen base. C Jose Godoy (.201) went 2 for...

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...

Following a competed rehab assignment, the Pittsburgh Pirates activated pitcher Nick Mears from the 60-day injured list Friday evening and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. The 25-year-old right-hander had been shut down in March following surgery to his throwing elbow. His reactivation puts the Pirates’ 40-man roster back at 40....

INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 56-57) scored three in the seventh to beat Iowa (Cubs), 3-2. LF Cal Mitchell (.322) went 2 for 3 with a double and a three-run homer, his seventh. RHP Mike Burrows (4.31) started and threw five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk and fanning six. LHP...

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 may very well end their campaign 30 games or more under .500. With a month and a half left in the year, the attention of manager Derek Shelton, general manager Ben Cherington and the rest of the Pirates organizational brass soon will turn to analyzing what went...

INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 55-57) was blanked by Iowa (Cubs), 3-0. RHP Jerad Eickhoff (5-5, 4.45) started and gave up three runs on five hits, including a homer, in five innings. LHP Cam Allred (2.59) pitched two scoreless innings, allowing two hits. RHP John O’Reilly (6.25) and LHP Cam Vieaux (3.00) each...

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...

Dennis Eckersley of the Boston Red Sox TV crew was not complimentary of the Pittsburgh Pirates during Tuesday’s broadcast: “You talk about a no-name lineup. There’s no team like this,” Eckersley said. “This is a hodgepodge of nothingness. It’s ridiculous. It really is.” Eckersley sounded dumbfounded. The Pirates hadn’t played...

Some people are mad that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph got booed Saturday night. Others seem to think he got off easy. Some people are angry at what Red Sox broadcaster Dennis Eckersley said about the Pirates. Others seem to think he could have poured it on more. Some people...

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,...

INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 55-56) doubled up Iowa (Cubs), 10-5. RF Travis Swaggerty (.266) went 3 for 4 with a homer, his 13th, a double, a walk and two RBIs. 2B Hoy Park (.232) went 3 for 3 with a double, his sixth homer, a walk and three RBIs. LF Cal Mitchell...

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...