(Credit for Photo: Caption for Photo: Pirates first round draft pick Derek Curiel smiles during a press conference after signing with the team on Sunday, July 26, 2026, at PNC Park. (Christopher Horner | TribLive)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed their 2026 first-round pick, Derek Curiel.

A press conference was held in Pittsburgh yesterday after Curiel signed his contract.

According to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, his deal is worth $6.2 million.

The twenty-one-year-old Curiel is an outfielder who played for LSU in center field and was selected 5th overall by the Pirates in this year’s draft.

Curiel slashed .349/.452/.522, along with earning 38 doubles, 4 triples, 13 home runs and 101 RBIs in 126 games over two seasons for the LSU Tigers, who won the 2025 College World Series championship. 

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Robert Morris University, Posted on Facebook on July 24th, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Moon Township, PA) Robert Morris University officially named Dr. Ron Moses as Vice President and Director of Athletics on Friday after a national search. 

Dr. Moses now joins that university in Moon Township after he served as Deputy Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Advancement, Revenue Growth, and Competitive Strategy at Old Dominion University located in Norfolk, Virginia.

Moses directed major initiatives across Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) strategy, revenue-sharing models, academic success, and corporate partnerships during his tenure at Old Dominion University.

(Credit and Caption for Photo: José Urquidy of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches in the ninth inning during the game against the Baltimore Orioles at PNC Park on April 5, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (Justin Berl/Getty Images)

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox acquired right-hander José Urquidy from Pittsburgh on Sunday night in a trade that sent minor league pitcher Félix Doroteo to the Pirates.

The 31-year-old Urquidy, designated for assignment by the Pirates on Friday, was 0-1 with an 8.53 ERA and one save in six relief appearances for Pittsburgh this season. He had six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

Urquidy was 5-4 with a 3.66 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 17 starts for Triple-A Indianapolis.

Urquidy is 27-17 in seven big league seasons with Houston, Detroit and Pittsburgh. He has a 4.07 ERA and 335 strikeouts in 413 2/3 innings.

The 21-year-old Doroteo was 3-2 with a 4.50 ERA and 24 strikeouts in one start and 15 relief outings during his first professional season with the Arizona Complex League White Sox. The right-hander was signed by Chicago in January 2025.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ryan O’Hearn (29) celebrates with Esmerlyn Valdez (55) and Bryan Reynolds, right, after hitting a grand slam off Chicago Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon during the third inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ryan O’Hearn hit a grand slam on his 33rd birthday, and the Pittsburgh Pirates held off the Chicago Cubs 8-7 on Sunday to avoid being swept in the three-game series.

The Cubs nearly erased a six-run deficit. Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run home run with one out in the ninth inning to make it a one-run game, but Mason Montgomery held on for his second save.

O’Hearn’s blast to center field in the third inning extended the Pirates’ lead to 7-1. That came an inning after a pair of rookies homered, with Esmerlyn Valdez hitting a leadoff shot and Shawn Ross hitting a two-run blast for his first career home run.

It was the fourth career grand slam for O’Hearn and second this season. His 17 home runs match the nine-year veteran’s career high.

Valdez has 14 home runs in just 37 games. Ross, a catcher, was making his first career start after being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday.

All three home runs came off Jameson Taillon (2-6), who has given up 25 longballs in just 76 innings this season. Taillon lasted four innings, was charged with seven runs on six hits and is winless in his last nine starts.

Braxton Ashcraft (10-4) pitched six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five.

Brandon Lowe had three of the Pirates’ 11 hits while Valdez and Nick Gonzales had two each. The Cubs got two hits apiece from Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner, rookie Pedro Ramirez and Dansby Swanson.

Up next

Cubs: Open a four-game series in St. Louis on Monday night with LHP David Peterson (5-7, 5.97 ERA) starting.

Pirates: RHP Mitch Keller (6-7, 4.90) pitches against Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (8-8, 5.12) on Monday night in the opener of a three-game home series.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) and Miguel Amaya (9) celebrate after scoring on a single by Seiya Suzuki off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong was 4 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs to lead the Chicago Cubs to an 11-0 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night.

Shota Imanaga (7-8) held Pittsburgh to four hits in six innings, striking out four and walking one.

Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes (9-9), who had allowed five runs in 18 1/3 innings to win his previous three starts, struck out 11 in 5 1/3 innings but gave up five earned runs on six hits and two walks.

Crow-Armstong, who was a triple short of the cycle, had an extra-base hit in three straight innings, capped by a two-run homer over the wall in right off Ron Marinaccio to give Chicago a 10-run lead in the seventh inning. It was his 23rd of the season.

He also had a single in the first and an RBI double in the fifth off Skenes, and a double off Isaac Mattson in the sixth.

The Cubs struck out nine times against Skenes through the first four innings before solving him for three runs in the fifth. Crow-Armstrong sent a 2-2 changeup to the center field wall, driving in Dansby Swanson. Then, with the infield in and two runners in scoring position, Seiya Suzuki dropped a single into right field over first baseman Ryan O’Hearn.

Chicago scored five more in the sixth, chasing Skenes with one out after Nico Hoerner singled and Pedro Ramírez walked. Swanson lined an RBI double to left and Miguel Amaya drove in two more with a single. Michael Busch also hit a two-run single.

Jake Mangum was the only Pirates batter to reach second base against Imanaga, sending a sharp single past the glove of third baseman Alex Bregman for the first Pittsburgh hit with two outs in the third and taking second on a throwing error by Swanson.

Up next

Pirates RHP Braxton Ashcraft (9-4, 3.95 ERA) starts the series finale Sunday against Cubs RHP Jameson Taillon (2-5, 5.38).

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Chicago Cubs’ Dansby Swanson singles off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Yohan Ramírez, driving in a run, during the tenth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dansby Swanson hit an RBI single and Seiya Suzuki drew a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning as the Chicago Cubs held on for a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Swanson’s single scored automatic runner Ian Happ, who barely beat center fielder Jake Mangum’s throw to make it 2-1. The call was upheld after a video review.

Suzuki’s walk came off Yohan Ramírez (6-3).

Gavin Holliwell allowed a run on Nick Gonzales’ groundout in the bottom of the 10th but hung on for his first save. Caleb Thielbar (3-2) worked a scoreless ninth.

The Pirates opened the scoring in the fifth inning on back-to-back walks to Marcel Ozuna and Brandon Lowe and consecutive infield singles by Jared Triolo and Henry Davis.

Pittsburgh had the bases loaded with none out, but Matthew Boyd escaped the jam.

Pete Crow-Armstong tied it at 1-1 in the sixth when he hit his 22nd home run of the season into the right-field stands off Jared Jones. Left fielder Happ helped to keep the score 1-1 in the seventh when he threw out Davis at home for an inning-ending double play.

Crow-Armstrong also doubled in the third.

Boyd surrendered only one run in seven innings despite giving up seven hits and three walks. The left-hander did not factor in the decision, but his six-game winning streak stayed intact.

Jones pitched one-run ball over six innings, allowing two hits, striking out five and walking one. In his last four starts, Jones has given up three runs in 21 innings.

Up next

Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (6-8, 3.91 ERA) faces RHP Paul Skenes (9-8, 3.43) on Saturday night.

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of JJ LaBella/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Imperial, PA) The West Allegheny boys high school basketball team will have a new head coach entering the 2026-27 season.

Longtime boys basketball coach Jeff Ackermann was named the next head coach of that team during a school board meeting yesterday, and he replaces Ben O’Connor, who resigned after spending the past three seasons with the program.

Ackermann spent the last six seasons at Baldwin and has won five WPIAL championships, a PIAA championship and won over 400 games.

(Credit and Caption for Photo: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – DECEMBER 21: A detailed view of an NFL football is seen at M&T Bank Stadium on December 21, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The NFL FLAG Championships, which is the largest youth flag football tournament in the world, will bring the game of flag football’s next generation of stars and three teams from the Pittsburgh region are set to compete on the global stage.

This year’s NFL FLAG Championships which is presented by Toyota will take place from today through July 26th in Westfield, Indiana and it will feature over 350 girls and boys teams from across the world, which makes it the biggest tournament in the history of the event.

According to a release from the Pittsburgh Steelers, the following teams from western Pennsylvania have earned the opportunity to compete as the
Steelers at the NFL FLAG Championships:

• Pittsburgh Flag Football League (PFFL) STEEL (age 8 and under) – Pittsburgh/ PFFL STEEL is coached by Derrick Miles. Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Mike Logan is
the assistant coach.

• Boyce Park (age 10 and under) – Plum Borough/The team is coached by Larry Fielder and assistant Maurice William.

• Pittsburgh Flag Football League (PFFL) Ladies of Steel (high school girls) – Pittsburgh/The team is coached by Dennis Wolford and assistant Ryan Glass.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jake Mangum celebrates as he stands on second after driving in a run with a double off Atlanta Braves pitcher Jr. Ritchie during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Jake Mangum was scratched from the second game of yesterday’s doubleheader against the New York Yankees after he fouled a ball off his right foot in the opener at Yankee Stadium. 

His injury status is considered day-to-day as the Pirates prepare to go back to PNC Park for a three-game series at home against the Chicago Cubs starting tomorrow.

Mangum will go through further tests to determine how severe his injury is and the Pirates will give an update on his status for their next game.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, left, fakes a handoff to running back Kaleb Johnson during practice at the team’s NFL football training camp in Latrobe, Pa., Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Latrobe, PA) The 2026 Pittsburgh Steelers training camp will be held at its long-time location at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe from Wednesday, July 29th through Monday, August 17th.  

Players will report on Tuesday, July 28th and tickets are free for fans. 

However, those who attend must have a mobile ticket. 

You can see the full schedule and get tickets for this event by going to this website:

https://www.ticketmaster.com/pittsburgh-steelers-training-camp-tickets/artist/2901876