Category: Sports

McCarthy hits leadoff inside-the-park homer off Skenes in Rockies’ 2-1 win over Pirates

(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.

Fulford’s pinch 2-run double in 8th lifts Rockies past Pirates 4-3, Freeland reaches 1,000 Ks

(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.

Former Penguins hockey player Ryan Craig becomes the next head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights

(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. 

Braves acquire catcher Joey Bart from Pirates for pitcher Hunter Stratton

(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.

Penn-Ohio Football Classic: Another Great Game in the Books

Story by Keith Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published June 18, 2026 11:35 P.M.
Photos by Daniel Campbell – Beaver County Radio

(Beaver Falls, Pa) An elaborate procession on both sides of the ball was the pace of the game joined by awards and scholarships and the history of tradition in high school football at the 2026 Penn-Ohio Football Classic. It was an action packed game from the first quarter.

On the first drive Ohio marched down to the PA 36 but lost a fumble to PA. PA responded with a 60 yard pass from Travis Clear to Julius Best for a PA touchdown, which turned out to be the only lead that they could get in the game.

It was what you would expect in an all star game of this magnitude, possibly being the oldest game between two organizations in the country.

The game was back and forth with lots of big plays, such as one at the end of the 3rd quarter where a tipped ball to Julius Best got PA down to the 3 yard line. Travis Clear ran a keeper to make the score Ohio 24 PA 17.

This game went back and forth with the game ending Ohio 40 PA 31.

Some additional honorable mentions for their contributions to the game include PA players Jack Miles, Jameson Feeley, M.J. Stuckey, Rocco Marcantonio, Dom Hogue.

Steelers rookie quarterback Drew Allar has not signed with the team yet

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Penn State quarterback Drew Allar (15) throws for a touchdown during the first half of the Orange Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff semifinal game agaisnt Notre Dame, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Nine of the ten 2026 draft picks from the Pittsburgh Steelers have signed with the team. Rookie quarterback Drew Allar is the only player from that group who has still not signed with the team yet. Allar was drafted in the third round of this year’s NFL Draft after his senior season at Penn State. He participated in the team’s entire offseason program.

Geneva College’s Reeves Field hosting 47th annual Penn-Ohio high school football senior all-star game

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Falls, PA) The 47th edition of the Penn-Ohio high school football classic will occur at 7 p.m. tonight at Reeves Field on the campus of Geneva College. The all-star players from Western Pennsylvania will take on the all-star players from Eastern Ohio. These high school seniors will play in their final high school games before they head off to their respective colleges. Beaver County Radio will broadcast the game on all of its stations and its Facebook Live and YouTube channels starting at 6:30 p.m.

Ryan O’Hearn knocks in career-high 6 runs as Pirates roll to 12-4 victory over Athletics

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ryan O’Hearn hits an two RBI double during the first inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Ryan O’Hearn homered, doubled and singled to finish with a career-high six RBIs as the Pittsburgh Pirates romped to a 12-4 victory Wednesday night over the Athletics.

Marcell Ozuna also went deep for the Pirates, who racked up 16 hits. They scored at least 10 runs for the seventh time this season, matching their 2025 total.

Braxton Ashcraft (6-3) struck out seven in six innings. He allowed two runs, one earned, and four hits.

Pittsburgh’s first four batters reached safely, and a two-run double by O’Hearn made it 3-0. He added a two-run homer to left field in the fourth to stretch the margin to 7-0.

Jacob Wilson’s two-run single trimmed it to 7-2 in the sixth before the Pirates tacked on five more in the seventh. Ozuna launched a 448-foot solo shot to center field, Spencer Horwitz drew a bases-loaded walk, Brandon Lowe hit a sacrifice fly and O’Hearn had a two-run single.

Henry Bolte homered for the A’s in the seventh. Zack Gelof went deep in the ninth to extend the longest active hitting streak in the majors to 21 games.

Aaron Civale (5-3) gave up six runs and nine hits in three-plus innings.

Up next

The Pirates begin a three-game series Friday in Colorado, where RHP Bubba Chandler (2-7, 4.76 ERA) starts against Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-7, 7.98).

The A’s host the Los Angeles Angels for a four-game series beginning Thursday. LHP Gage Jump (2-1, 3.09) gets the ball for the home team.