Here’s something improbable: two minor league teammates in the Pirates system hit for the cycle Tuesday night, in the same game. Kevin Newman got his in five at-bats, notching a single, a pair of doubles, a triple, and finally, in the eighth inning, a solo dong to left:
“Among the 14 versions the Post-Gazette collected, the Pirates use the slowest tempo by more than 20 beats per minute. Some teams, like the Oakland Athletics, have versions more than 25 percent faster than the Pirates.” What’s with Pittsburgh’s distinct, super-slow version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”?
The Pittsburgh Pirates, a “small-market” MLB team whose owner prefers hoarding his money to spending it on good players, actually made a deal today to improve the team. I know, right?! These scrappy little tightwad nobodies acquired an honest-to-gosh name people have heard of in Rays starter Chris Archer, giving up…
There’s a point in every typical Mets season when their astonishingly dependable ineptitude tips over from being a source of amusement to being a source of genuinely unpleasant secondhand embarrassment. Probably for Mets fans that moment reliably passes before the first day of summer; for the rest of us, it takes a…
Pitchers have both the toughest and perhaps the most dangerous job in baseball, so it’s unfair for us to rag on them too much if they choose to get the hell out of the way whenever a hitter puts a ball in play. They should let those lazy fielders do their part!
Playing extra innings on Sunday in a ballpark that had essentially become an extension of the Allegheny River, the Pirates managed to capture a walk-off victory. First baseman Josh Bell was the one who showed off his sea legs and sent Milwaukee to Davy Jones’s locker, crushing the ball about 60 fathoms deep into…
History has a habit of repeating itself over and over in sports, especially in baseball. Saturday afternoon Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco got in some history-making of their own: they became the third teammates in MLB history to amass back-to-back home runs in both games of a double-header. This unlikely…
What happened between the Mets and Pirates in New York last night doesn’t qualify as a brawl or even a fracas, but it did constitute one of the silliest bench-clearings in recent memory.
True manager meltdowns feel like a thing of the past. Oh, sure, once in a while someone’s ass ends up in the jackpot, but those are few and far between these days. So let’s treasure the ones we get, and never forget the greats. Like then–Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon getting so upset over a close call at first base…
With the Supreme Court paving the way for the legalization of sports gambling last month, sports leagues and teams have quietly dropped their longstanding opposition to gambling and have a new question: How can we get a cut?
It rained just a bit in Pittsburgh this evening, forcing the postponement of tonight’s Brewers-Pirates game. But before Milwaukee bullpen catcher Marcus Hanel returned to the safety of his hotel room, he made the courageous, selfless decision to rescue some powerless equipment from the terrifying flood that ravaged…
The Pirates have a college-educated singer in their bullpen, and they’re putting him to good use. Before Pittsburgh’s game tonight against the Brewers, relief pitcher Steven Brault stepped up to the plate and sang the national anthem, pulling off a rare feat that was maybe done most memorably in recent years by…
The Diamondbacks were toast. Joe Musgrove was dealing for the Pirates, allowing Arizona just four hits through six as Pittsburgh sat on a 5-0 lead. “We were lying flat,” D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo said. And then the Pirates had to go and put a leadoff batter on. Retaliation, you know. Unwritten rules of baseball…
For the second time in his career, Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a major league baseball game, today at home against the Pirates. And for the second time in his career, a lousy softly-hit single spoiled his shot at history. Three outs away from the 11th no-hitter in…
The Pirates made it seem like they had moved past Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo’s “illegal but not dirty” slide into catcher Elias Diaz in Monday’s game, but in the third inning last night Joe Musgrove put the beef in the microwave for about 30 seconds. The Pittsburgh pitcher slid hard into Chicago infielder Javier…
In the eighth inning of Monday’s Cubs-Pirates game, Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo pulled off a successful takeout slide on Pirates catcher Elias Diaz. Though Rizzo was out at home, two runs scored on the play as the slide forced Diaz to throw the ball into the outfield. The catcher stayed on the ground in pain for…
On Tuesday, just after Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano was suspended 80 games for failing a drug test, Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco started to receive concerned texts from his friends and family in the Dominican Republic. A fake ESPN tweet began to circulate online, suggesting that Polanco would also be…
Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon was pulled from his start against the Giants on Friday after three excellent innings because of a serious cut on his middle finger, which was likely the result of his thumbnail digging into his finger when he threw curveballs. Taillon was bleeding on the ball to point that he had to…
