(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press, Caption for Photo: Pirates pitching coach Bill Murphy, center, confers with catcher Endy Rodríguez, left, and starting pitcher Jared Jones, right, in the second inning against the Rockies, Sunday, June 21, 2026, in Denver.)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The Pittsburgh Pirates gave a recent update on the injury of their starting pitcher Jared Jones. Jones exited his most recent start yesterday against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver after his right elbow got hit by an 87.9 mph line drive from Rockies first baseman TJ Rumfield in the third inning. Jones left after the end of that inning and was replaced by relief pitcher Yohan Ramírez. The Pirates stated that the initial images of Jones’ elbow came back negative and that they would reexamine him when they get back to Pittsburgh. Jones can be considered day-to-day for his status, and his next projected start is on Saturday, June 27th in Pittsburgh as the Pirates will take on the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park. 

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Eastern Shore Hawks, Posted on Facebook on June 19th, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Princess Anne, MD) The University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Maryland announced the hiring of Ambridge graduate Justin Thomas as its new head baseball coach as of Friday. Thomas most recently spent the previous three seasons as pitching coach at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. Thomas will now lead the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks baseball program, which competes in the Northeast Conference (NEC), where the Hawks have been an associate member since 2023.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Endy Rodríguez, left, congratulates Nick Gonzales (3) who crosses home plate after hitting a two-run home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 21, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP) — Nick Gonzalez and Bryan Reynolds homered to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 8-6 on Sunday.

Gonzalez and Reynolds finished with two hits each to help Pittsburgh salvage the finale of the three-game series in what could have been a sweep. The Pirates lost the first two games despite having the tying and winning runs on second and third with one out in the ninth in both games.

Pittsburgh starter Jared Jones left the game after he was struck on the right elbow on a comebacker to end the third inning. The ball deflected to Gonzalez at third, who threw out TJ Rumfield. The Pirates announced initial tests on the elbow were negative.

Yohan Ramirez (5-2) took over in the fourth and tossed two scoreless innings.

The Rockies only hit through six innings was Tyler Freeman’s infield single leading off the second inning. He later scored on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice.

Gonzalez put the Pirates in front in the fourth when he followed Reynolds’ leadoff double with his third home run of the season. Jared Triolo had an RBI double in the fifth against Michael Lorenzen (2-9), who is winless in 10 starts.

Pittsburgh made it 5-1 with four straight hits to begin the sixth inning, and then broke it open in the seventh. Spencer Horwitz and Brandon Lowe led off with singles and Reynolds hit a 433-foot shot into the second deck in right field against Juan Mejia.

Jake McCarthy and Willi Castro led off the eighth with singles and Rumfield followed with his 12th home run. Kyle Karros had an RBI double in the ninth and scored on a throwing error.

Up next

Pirates: RHP Mitch Keller (5-4, 5.25) faces Seattle on Tuesday night at home to begin a three-game series.

Rockies: RHP Ryan Feltner (2-2, 5.05) opens a three-game home series against Boston on Monday night.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Colorado Rockies’ Jake McCarthy slides safely across home plate to notch an inside-the-park home run off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes in the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, June 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP) — Jake McCarthy hit a leadoff inside-the-park home run off Paul Skenes and the Colorado Rockies survived another tense ninth inning to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Saturday night.

Skenes (6-7) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against Colorado on May 12, and hasn’t won since that outing.

Tomoyuki Sugano (8-4) went six innings, and Jaden Hill picked up his second save.

Pittsburgh, as it did Friday night, had the tying run on third with less that two outs in the ninth. Hill came on and hit Nick Gonzalez to load the bases before striking out Tyler Callihan. Jake Mangum then hit a grounder to third baseman Kyle Karros, and the game ended when umpires determined Karros was interfered with by Billy Cook.

The game started with matching leadoff home runs. Spencer Horowitz blasted a 434-footer into the second deck in right field to start the night, his fifth career leadoff homer, and McCarthy answered with more flare.

McCarthy drove a liner to center field that got by the diving Mangum and rolled to the wall. Callihan had trouble picking it up, allowing McCarthy to race around the bases and beat the relay throw home.

It was the franchise’s second inside-the-park homer to lead off the first inning – the last by Eric Young Jr. on Aug. 8, 2012 — and the 20th inside-the-park home run in team history and first since Ian Desmond’s on June 14, 2019.

McCarthy’s hustle double in the third led to Colorado’s second run.

Up next

Pirates RHP Jared Jones (1-1, 6.23) was set to face RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-8, 7.13) on Sunday in the series finale.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Colorado Rockies pinch-hitter Braxton Fulford follows the flight of his two-run double off Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Mason Montgomery in the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 19, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP) — Pinch-hitter Braxton Fulford had a go-ahead two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning, Antonio Senzatela got out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the ninth and the Colorado Rockies held on for a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Rockies starter Kyle Freeland got his 1,000th career strikeout, the second player in franchise history to reach the milestone.

The Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the eighth on an RBI double by Jared Triolo off Freeland and a run-scoring single by pinch-hitter Bryan Reynolds and an RBI triple by Nick Gonzales against Jaden Hill.

But the Rockies came right back in their half of the eighth when Tyler Freeman and Cole Carrigg had consecutive two-out singles against Mason Montgomery (2-2). Fulford came in to pinch hit for Sterlin Thompson and doubled into the gap between left and center field to put Colorado up 4-3.

Senzatela (7-0) gave up a leadoff single in the ninth to Marcel Ozuna and Brandon Lowe singled on a ball that bounced off the leg of shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and into the outfield, putting the tying run at third base. Senzatela then walked Endy Rodríguez to load the bases. But he struck out Tyler Callihan and got Triolo to ground into a double play to end the game.

Freeland, who struck out Ozuna in the seventh to reach 1,000 strikeouts and then fanned Lowe, trails only Germán Márquez (1,069) on the Rockies’ career list. Freeland finished with eight strikeouts and allowed two runs and four hits in 7 1/3 innings.

The Rockies took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI double by Willi Castro. TJ Rumfield hit a solo homer in the fourth to make it 2-0.

Up next

RHP Paul Skenes (6-6, 2.85 ERA) will start for the Pirates on Saturday in the middle game of the series. RHP Tomoyuki Sungano (7-4, 4.54) will start for the Rockies.

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Las Vegas, NV) The Vegas Golden Knights formally introduced Ryan Craig as their new head coach yesterday in Las Vegas. Craig played for both the Pittsburgh Penguins and their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the 2010-2011 season and returned to Wilkes-Barre Scranton to play for them in the 2011-2012 season. Craig replaces John Tortorella, who led the Golden Knights to the 2026 Stanley Cup Final despite him being hired with eight games left in the team’s regular season. 

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Posted on Facebook on June 19th, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Facebook today that Ron Francis is back with the organization as Special Advisor for Hockey Operations today. Francis won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Pittsburgh Pirates’ Joey Bart steps in to bat against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the sixth inning of a baseball game, May 7, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves acquired catcher Joey Bart from the Pittsburgh Pirates for right-handed pitcher Hunter Stratton on Thursday night.

Atlanta made room for Bart on the 40-man roster by designating catcher Sandy León for assignment. The Pirates assigned Stratton to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Bart was batting .259 with two homers, six RBIs and a .670 OPS in 21 games with Pittsburgh. He grew up in the Atlanta suburbs and played college ball in the city at Georgia Tech before being selected second overall by the San Francisco Giants in the 2018 amateur draft.

The NL East-leading Braves (46-27) already have two fine catchers in 2025 NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin and 2023 All-Star Sean Murphy, but Murphy is on the 60-day injured list with a broken finger.

Stratton appeared in one game with the Braves this year and pitched a scoreless inning. He played for the Pirates from 2023-25 before getting traded to Atlanta last July.

León was batting .091 with zero RBIs in 21 games this season.