Author: Beaver County Radio

Pirates beat Tigers 8-6 to sweep doubleheader, series!!!

Pirates beat Tigers 8-6 to sweep doubleheader, series
By NOAH TRISTER, AP Baseball Writer
DETROIT (AP) — Josh Harrison, Starling Marte and David Freese homered for Pittsburgh, and the Pirates completed a doubleheader sweep of the Detroit Tigers with an 8-6 victory Sunday night.
Pittsburgh won the opener 1-0 behind six no-hit innings from Trevor Williams, then took control of the second game with five runs in the fifth.
Pittsburgh swept the three-game, season-opening series against the rebuilding Tigers. The highlight of the day for Detroit was Miguel Cabrera’s first home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth inning of the second game.
Chad Kuhl (1-0) allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings in the nightcap. Detroit starter Ryan Carpenter lasted three innings in his major league debut, yielding three runs and five hits.
Felipe Rivero saved both games for Pittsburgh, striking out the side in the ninth to end the opener and getting the final three outs of the nightcap after coming in with a man on second and an 8-5 lead. Rivero allowed four runs in the ninth inning in the first game of this series, a 13-inning victory by the Pirates on Friday.
Harrison hit a two-run homer in the third — it looked initially like he’d have to settle for a double when the ball bounced back into play, but the call was changed to a home run after a review on his flyball to the left-field corner. Marte added a solo shot one out later to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead.
It was 3-all before Pittsburgh’s big fifth inning. Buck Farmer (0-1) allowed a sacrifice fly by Jordy Mercer, then another run came home on a wild pitch. Francisco Cervelli added an RBI single, then Freese connected for a two-run shot to left.
In the opener, Williams (1-0) was pulled with a no-hitter in progress after six innings. He threw 84 pitches, his count boosted by five walks, and was replaced by Michael Feliz to start the seventh.
“I was playing Russian roulette all day with the walks, so I totally understood the move,” Williams said. “It was 1-0 when I came out and it ended up 1-0, so it worked perfectly.”
Nicholas Castellanos quickly ended the no-hit bid with a one-out double off Feliz. George Kontos pitched the eighth and Rivero finished the combined two-hitter.
Michael Fulmer (0-1) gave up one run, four hits and two walks in eight innings, striking out three.
Gregory Polanco’s RBI double gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the first, and that held up as the game’s only run.
The doubleheader was scheduled after a rainout Saturday. Attendance was 14,858 for the opener and 18,438 for the nightcap.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove threw 92 pitches in a Gulf Coast League game Saturday and is expected to join the Pirates’ rotation later this week.
Tigers: LF Victor Reyes left the second game with a right forearm laceration after he went diving after a shallow fly and accidentally took SS Jose Iglesias’ legs out from under him. Iglesias held on for the third out of the fifth inning but appeared frustrated, flinging the ball all the way over the fence in left. The game marked Reyes’ major league debut. … RHP Mike Fiers (back) is scheduled to throw a simulated game Monday at Detroit’s extended spring training facility and could come off the disabled list later in the week.
RIVERO VERSUS CABRERA
Rivero went to a 2-0 count on Cabrera to start the ninth inning of the first game, but got three straight swinging strikes on fastballs.
“I was behind in the count, so he knew I was going to be throwing fastballs,” Rivero said. “He just couldn’t catch up with them.”
Cabrera hit an RBI double off Rivero in the second game.
UP NEXT
Pittsburgh has a quick turnaround for its home opener Monday against Minnesota. Jameson Taillon (8-7, 4.44 ERA last season) starts for the Pirates against Lance Lynn (11-8, 3.43).
Francisco Liriano (6-7, 5.66) makes his Tigers debut Monday against Kansas City’s Jason Hammel (8-13, 5.29).
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
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Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister

Williams pitches 6 no-hit innings, Pirates edge Tigers 1-0

Williams pitches 6 no-hit innings, Pirates edge Tigers 1-0
By DAVE HOGG, Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — Trevor Williams was pulled with a no-hitter in progress after six innings, and the Pittsburgh Pirates hung on to beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0 on a chilly Sunday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
Williams (1-0) threw 84 pitches, his count boosted by five walks, and was replaced by Michael Feliz to start the seventh. Nicholas Castellanos quickly ended the team no-hit bid with a one-out double down the left-field line.
George Kontos pitched the eighth and Felipe Rivero struck out the side in the ninth for his first save, finishing the combined two-hitter.
The doubleheader was caused by a rainout Saturday. This game drew 14,858 fans, the smallest crowd at Comerica Park since 12,415 saw the Tigers beat the Royals on May 2, 2006. Temperatures were expected to drop below freezing for the nightcap.
Williams has pitched 13 shutout innings in two career starts against the Tigers, allowing one hit. His effort came a day after Minnesota’s Kyle Gibson was taken out after throwing 102 pitches in six no-hit innings at Baltimore.
Michael Fulmer (0-1) gave up one run on four hits and two walks in eight innings, striking out three.
Gregory Polanco’s RBI double gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the first, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.
The Tigers grounded into two double plays in the first three innings, then ran themselves out of the fourth with an inning-ending strikeout/caught stealing double play.
Williams walked two batters in the fifth, forcing action in the Pirates bullpen, but he escaped the inning with two flyballs. He pitched a 1-2-3 sixth before giving way to Feliz.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove threw 92 pitches in a Gulf Coast League game on Saturday and is expected to join the Pirates rotation later this week.
Tigers: RHP Mike Fiers (back) is scheduled to throw a simulated game Monday at Detroit’s extended spring training facility and could come off the disabled list later in the week.
UP NEXT
LHP Ryan Carpenter will make his major league debut for the Tigers in the second game, while RHP Chad Kuhl will pitch for the Pirates. Kuhl went 8-11 with a 4.35 ERA last season, allowing three runs in six innings of a win over the Tigers on Aug. 8.

2 shootings in Pittsburgh neighborhood kill 1, wound 1

2 shootings in Pittsburgh neighborhood kill 1, wound 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Police are investigating two shootings in the same Pittsburgh neighborhood on Easter Sunday that killed one man and critically wounded another.
Public safety department spokeswoman Alicia George says a 20-year-old man was shot in the side in the East Hills neighborhood shortly after noon on Sunday. The victim was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
Also in East Hills, officers responded to an alert from a gunfire detection system at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday and found a man on the sidewalk. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office identified him as 22-year-old Meliek Rashad Hemingway.
No arrests have been reported in either case. Police are asking anyone with information to call investigators.

Penguins rip Canadiens 5-2 to clinch playoff berth

  • Penguins rip Canadiens 5-2 to clinch playoff berth By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins’ quest for a three-peat is officially on. Patric Hornqvist picked up his 200th career goal and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions clinched their 12th straight playoff berth with a 5-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
    Phil Kessel, Riley Sheahan, Conor Sheary and Carl Hagelin also scored for Pittsburgh, which dominated the largely listless Canadiens to improve to 17-1-1 in their last 19 games at PPG Paints Arena. Matt Murray finished with 24 saves for the Penguins, who swept their season series with Montreal for only the second time in franchise history.
    Jeff Petry and Jonathan Droui scored for the Canadiens, who lost for the fifth time in seven games. Antti Niemi made 28 stops but Montreal couldn’t handle the league’s top-ranked power play.
    The Penguins went 3 for 5 with the man advantage, including Kessel and Sheahan scoring less than two minutes apart in the third period to blow open a one-goal game. Pittsburgh pulled within three points of first-place Washington in the Metropolitan Division. The Capitals visit the Penguins on Sunday night.
    Niemi actually began the season as the Penguins’ top backup after Marc-Andre Fleury was traded to Las Vegas and Murray became fully entrenched at the top spot. The plan lasted all of a month. Niemi found himself on waivers in late October after going 0-3 with a 7.50 goals against average, all of the losses coming on the road.
    While Niemi has rediscovered his game in Montreal, perhaps it’s fitting the Penguins reached the postseason with their former teammate — however briefly it lasted — in the opposing net. Niemi’s awful numbers in Pittsburgh weren’t entirely his fault. Niemi’s struggles came in part to some lethargic play in front of him. Though coach Mike Sullivan claimed it wasn’t a hangover from two long postseason runs, the Penguins treaded for the first three months of the season before getting it going in January.
    The team Niemi faced on Saturday still has some issues in its own end, but the Penguins also have the kind of firepower few can match.
    The proof came during a 5-minute stretch in which they scored three goals. Sheary rifled a wrist shot from the slot into the net 9:41 into the first, just 59 seconds after Petry gave the Canadiens the lead. Hornqvist put Pittsburgh in front 37 seconds later with his 17th of the season and came in typical fashion for the bruising forward. He planted himself in front of the Montreal net and flipped home a backup past Price.
    Hagelin finished the barrage by banking the puck off Niemi’s back from behind the net. Though Drouin’s 13th of the season with 10 seconds left in the first brought Montreal within one, the Canadiens never really came close to tying it.
    Their best chance came in the third period but Artturi Lehkonen flubbed a shorthanded breakaway. The Penguins went back the other way and Kessel’s shot deflected off a Montreal player and into the net for his 31st.
    NOTES: Penguins F Derick Brassard missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Pittsburgh has won five straight overall against Montreal. … The Penguins are now 9-7-2 on the first night of back-to-backs this season. … Pittsburgh C Sidney Crosby’s five-game goal streak ended, though he did have one assist. … The Penguins’ 12-year playoff run is a franchise record. The team reached the postseason 11 straight times from 1990-2001.
    UP NEXT
    Canadiens: Host New Jersey on Sunday. The teams have split their first two games, each winning on home ice.
    Penguins: will try to take the season series from Washington on Sunday night. Pittsburgh won two of the first three meetings.
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Bucs and Tigers washed out!!! Split Double header on Easter Sunday!!

The Pittsburgh Pirates game today in Detroit has been postponed.  There will be a split doubleheader tomorrow at 1:10pm and 6:10pm.  The Neal Huntington Show will still begin at 12:10.  Pre-game for the 1:10 game will be 12:45 on Beaver County Radio!!! We will not carry game two of the double header do to the Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the Washington Capitals. Air time is 7:00 p.m. .

Pirates win 13 to 10 in an extra innings thriller over Detroit!!!

Replay review saves Pirates, beat Tigers 13-10 in 13th
By NOAH TRISTER, AP Baseball Writer
DETROIT (AP) — Gregory Polanco hit a three-run homer in the 13th inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 13-10 victory over Detroit on Friday — about an hour after the Tigers spilled onto the field to celebrate what they thought was a game-winning hit of their own.
Nicholas Castellanos was initially called safe at home in the bottom of the 10th for the Tigers, but a replay review took the run away and the teams played on. Polanco’s drive to right-center on a 3-0 pitch from Alex Wilson (0-1) finally gave the Pirates a comfortable lead — or as comfortable as could be on a wacky day in which both teams scored four runs in the ninth.
Detroit put two men on base in the 13th, but Steven Brault (1-0) was able to hold on and finish his third scoreless inning of relief.
By the time the 5-hour, 27-minute game was over, there were only three umpires and one manager left. Plate umpire Mike Everitt exited in the eighth with a concussion after being hit in the mask by a pitch. And Ron Gardenhire — in his first game as Tigers manager — was ejected after the overturned call in the 10th.
Detroit’s franchise-record streak of six straight wins in season openers was snapped.
This game was pushed back a day after it was postponed because of rain Thursday. The temperature was 36 degrees at the start.
The Tigers had the bases loaded and nobody out in the first and fifth but failed to score. They took a 2-0 lead in the second when Mikie Mahtook, Jose Iglesias and Dixon Machado led off with consecutive doubles.
Francisco Cervelli’s double highlighted a three-run fourth for Pittsburgh, and Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run double in a four-run seventh for the Tigers. The Pirates scored twice in the eighth to tie it at 6.
Starling Marte’s triple started a four-run ninth for Pittsburgh, but closer Felipe Rivero couldn’t finish the Tigers off in the bottom half. He allowed a two-run double to James McCann and was eventually pulled. Then Machado hit a two-run double off Josh Smoker with two outs to make it 10-all.
JaCoby Jones hit the single that briefly appeared to have scored Castellanos, but the play at the plate was close after a throw by left fielder Corey Dickerson. The Tigers celebrated for a bit, then stopped and waited in front of their own dugout while the call was reviewed.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: Pittsburgh began the season with RHPs Nick Burdi (elbow surgery) and A.J. Schugel (shoulder discomfort) on the disabled list.
Tigers: RHPs Mike Fiers (lumbar strain) and Johnny Barbato (forearm strain) started the season on the DL. … Mahtook’s face appeared to scrape across the dirt on an awkward headfirst slide on his second-inning double, but he came up laughing and seemed fine.
UP NEXT
Detroit RHP Michael Fulmer (10-12, 3.83 ERA last season) starts Saturday against RHP Trevor Williams (7-9, 4.07). Last August, Williams allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings in a victory over the Tigers.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
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Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister