Pirates/MLB category, Page 219
Pirates place relievers Kyle Crick, Clay Holmes on IL, add Geoff Hartlieb, Miguel Del Pozo
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...
Chad Kuhl relies on slider in return from Tommy John to pitch piggyback for Pirates
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...
Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis exploring ‘appropriateness’ of team nickname
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...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: A weird home opener saw Pirates blow big moments with bad ending
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...
Tim Benz: PNC Park opener like we may never see again. Let’s hope so, anyway.
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...
Colin Moran continues home opener heroics, but Brewers rally to beat Pirates in 11th inning
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...
Strangest Pirates home opener everVideo
If a Pirates home opener were played in the Twilight Zone, this is probably what it would look like. Ninety minutes before the first pitch with the Milwaukee Brewers, the normally teeming streets and sidewalks around PNC Park were practically empty. There were no pedestrians marching to the ballpark across...
Pirates play home opener as Marlins coronavirus outbreak raises concernsVideo
Before the Pittsburgh Pirates could play their home opener at PNC Park, a coronavirus outbreak with the Miami Marlins forced MLB to postpone two games and threatened to put the shortened season in jeopardy. Reports that the Marlins have at least 14 cases of positive covid-19 among their players, coaches...
Pirates’ Derek Holland also was ejected 7 years ago — just not from a baseball gameVideo
Derek Holland said the incident in St. Louis that resulted in his early exit from the finale of the Cardinals series was the first time he has been tossed from a baseball game. It was not a lifetime first, however, for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ oldest starting pitcher. Seven years ago...
Pirates activate Gregory Polanco in time to serve as designated hitter for home opener
The Pittsburgh Pirates activated Gregory Polanco from the injured list, and he will bat seventh and serve as designated hitter for their home opener Monday night against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park. Polanco was cleared this past weekend after testing positive for covid-19, one of five Pirates players to...
Mark Madden: Major League Baseball won’t work outside of a bubble
Is America ready for sports to return? Obviously not. Is the reader prepared for refreshing sports notes? Here’s hoping. Get ‘em while they’re hot! (They’re always hot.) • Nine Miami Marlins players (and five other memers of the traveling party) are reportedly infected by covid-19. If Miami has to use...
Tim Benz: Patchwork Pirates, odd MLB season deliver as advertised over first weekend
The first weekend of Major League Baseball in the coronavirus era was exactly as advertised — not just for the local team but league-wide. From an MLB perspective, viewers across the country quickly got used to cardboard cutout fans, manufactured crowd noise and runners beginning extra innings at second base....
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates manager Derek Shelton had a ‘pretty good’ day with first win
Derek Shelton entered the Zoom room for the postgame interview following the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, his first win as a major-league manager, shook his soaking-wet silver hair and slicked it back. “How was your guys’ day?” Shelton said. “Mine was pretty good.” The first...
Pirates plan for Gregory Polanco to start out as designated hitter when he returns to playing
When Gregory Polanco returns to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ lineup, the right fielder likely first will be used as a designated hitter. Pirates manager Derek Shelton said that’s the plan for Polanco, who has been working out at PNC Park this weekend after being cleared to return from a positive covid-19...
Pirates pitcher JT Brubaker shares a special moment with Derek Shelton in MLB debut
The magnitude of the moment of his major league debut didn’t cross JT Brubaker’s mind until he set foot on the infield dirt at Busch Stadium to face the St. Louis Cardinals. “As soon as I stepped on it, it hit me: the adrenaline, the nerves, the excitement, everything that...
Pirates win eventful game for Derek Shelton’s 1st victoryVideo
The Pittsburgh Pirates debuted their gray road uniforms with “Pittsburgh” in cursive across the chest, classic throwbacks to the early 1990s, and that wasn’t even the most prominent script change Sunday. Derek Shelton shuffled the starting lineup, a move the Pirates manager insisted was scripted before the start of the...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates can’t wait to get Gregory Polanco’s bat back in lineup
The news that Gregory Polanco has been cleared to resume workouts and could return to play soon couldn’t come at a better time for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Manager Derek Shelton was careful to remind us not to get reactionary because it’s only been two games, but the first three batters...
Cardinals cruise past Pirates behind 38-year-olds Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina
The St. Louis Cardinals turned to the tried and true Saturday afternoon with Adam Wainwright on the mound and Yadier Molina behind the plate, a battery with a combined three decades in the majors. The 38-year-old pitcher and catcher combined to keep the Pittsburgh Pirates in check as the Cardinals...
With no fans allowed at PNC Park, Pirates to launch virtual fan initiatives for home opener
When the Pittsburgh Pirates return to PNC Park, it will be without fans in the stands because of the coronavirus pandemic. So the club is launching a virtual fan experience, starting with Monday’s home opener. The Pirates are encouraging fans to follow online at Pirates.com for in-between innings staples such...
Pirates’ Steven Brault will start home opener; Gregory Polanco cleared to return
Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton announced left-hander Steven Brault will start the home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night at PNC Park and confirmed right fielder Gregory Polanco has been cleared to return after testing positive for covid-19. Shelton said Polanco is going through the MLB health and...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Derek Shelton’s debut was memorable in the most important waysVideo
When Derek Shelton was introduced first, the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie skipper took in the moment that was a half-century in the making and nothing like he had envisioned for his MLB managerial debut. Shelton wore a protective mask covering his face from the coronavirus, and beautiful Busch Stadium was otherwise...
Cardinals spoil Derek Shelton’s managerial debut, beat PiratesVideo
Derek Shelton finally made his long-awaited debut as Pittsburgh Pirates manager, only for the old hitting coach to find his team in a pitcher’s duel. In a battle of right-handers, Jack Flaherty outdueled Joe Musgrove to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a season-opening 5-4 win over the Pirates on...
Pirates manager Derek Shelton stands behind a kneeling Jarrod Dyson before season openerVideo
As Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals players held black fabric during the national anthem as a symbol of their unity in combating racial and social injustice, Jarrod Dyson took a knee and bowed his head. Before his MLB debut as Pirates manager, Derek Shelton showed support for his starting...
Mark Madden: Fauci’s symbolic 1st pitch and other storylines surrounding start of unprecedented MLB season
“Opening day — or Opening Day. Depending on how you feel about it.” — Jim Bouton, “Ball Four.” Major League Baseball season is upon us, even if it probably shouldn’t be. Dr. Anthony Fauci threw a first pitch at Nationals Park in D.C. that made Baba Booey look like Greg...
Let’s go Bucks: Gov. Wolf’s tweet to Pirates wished good luck with gaffe
Gov. Tom Wolf wished the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies good luck for the MLB season. Or at least tried to. Wolf tweeted the message Thursday afternoon, but included the wrong spelling of the Pirates’ nickname, writing “Bucks” instead of Bucs. @GovernorTomWolf That’s a swing and a miss, sir! But...
