(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Frank Franklin II, AP)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The NHL recently named Pittsburgh Penguins center Rickard Rakell as last week’s first star of the week. Rakell scored seven goals and notched eight points in five games last week. He scored two of those goals against the Florida Panthers on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins have won four of five games and are now just two points away from clinching their first playoff berth since 2022. Rakell has 11 goals, including three multi-goal games in the last ten games for the Penguins.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: San Diego Padres’ Ramón Laureano, right, doubles off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Justin Lawrence (not shown), driving in a run, during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, April 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Germán Márquez combined with two relievers on a seven-hit shutout for his first win with San Diego, and the Padres ended the Pittsburgh Pirates’ five-game winning streak with a 5-0 victory Monday night.

Nick Castellanos hit the first of San Diego’s four RBI doubles. Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth and Ramón Laureano each had a run-scoring double as well to help the Padres win their third straight.

Márquez (1-1) pitched five innings, allowing six hits and one walk on 92 pitches. He struck out four.

Ron Marinaccio and David Morgan each worked two innings to finish San Diego’s second shutout this season.

Manny Machado scored a run and knocked in another with a groundout. Freddy Fermin scored twice, and Xander Bogaerts had two hits and a walk.

Pirates rookie starter Bubba Chandler (0-1) threw 83 pitches over 4 1/3 innings. He gave up three runs, five hits and four walks.

Pittsburgh went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and lost at home for the first time this season.

Up next

Nick Pivetta (1-1) starts against Pirates ace Paul Skenes (1-1) on Tuesday in the middle game of the series.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jared Triolo scores on a double by Henry Davis off Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kyle Bradish during the second inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates placed third baseman Jared Triolo on the injured list on Sunday and recalled outfielder/first baseman Billy Cook from Triple-A Indianapolis.

Triolo has a right knee patellar tendon injury. He is hitting .217 in six games.

Cook made the Pirates’ opening day roster but appeared in only one game and did not have an at-bat before being sent down. In two games at Indianapolis, Cook went 3 for 9 with a home run.

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Gannon University Athletics, Posted on Facebook on April 6th, 2026)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Pace Prosser totaled 28 points and 11 rebounds and Gannon beat Lander 84-61 on Sunday to win the Division II Championship.

Prosser made 10 of 19 shots with four 3-pointers for the Golden Knights (34-3) in a battle between two teams aiming for a first national championship. Prosser added five assists and five steals. Lucas Sekasi finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Mackenzie Morgan added 12 points and seven rebounds, while his twin brother Lucas scored 11.

Dylan Canoville totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Bearcats (30-6), who saw a 15-game winning streak end. Jacob Daniels and Greyson Pritzl both scored 11.

Second-year coach Easton Bazzoli led the third-seeded Golden Knights of Erie, Pennsylvania, to the title three years after a three-win season.

Prosser and Layne Sarver sank two straight 3-pointers in a 15-0 run that began and ended with baskets by Sekasi and the Golden Knights took a 20-9 lead. Canoville’s rebound basket ended the run as Lander scored six straight, but Prosser hit two 3-pointers in the final 1:11 for a 37-21 advantage at halftime.

Mackenzie Morgan hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half and Gannon upped its advantage to 43-22. The Bearcats got no closer than 14 from there.

Coach Omar Wattad and No. 5 seed Lander, out of Greenwood, S.C., upset defending champion and top seed Nova Southeastern 91-81 in the semifinals.

Gannon advanced to the title game one other time — in 1987 — but it ended in a 92-74 loss to Kentucky Wesleyan.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ryan O’Hearn celebrates on second base after driving in a run off Baltimore Orioles pitcher Chris Bassitt during the second inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ryan O’Hearn homered and matched a career high with four RBIs as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-2 on Sunday to sweep a three-game series and extend their winning streak to five.

O’Hearn hit a two-run shot to right-center in the first inning. In the second, his two-run double highlighted a four-run outburst as the Pirates pushed their lead to 6-0.

Oneil Cruz made it 8-1 with a two-run homer to center field in the sixth. He also singled home a run in the second.

Cruz’s homer came off left-hander Cade Povich. The center fielder is 7 for 10 with three homers against lefties after going 11 for 108 with one homer last season.

That was plenty of support for Braxton Ashcraft (1-1), who allowed one run and four hits in six innings. He had a career-high eight strikeouts and no walks.

Pirates starters have given up two earned runs or fewer in each of their eight games since 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes was tagged for five runs while only getting two outs against the New York Mets on opening day.

Orioles starter Chris Bassitt (0-2) was roughed up for six runs in two innings. Signed to an $18.5 million, one-year contract as a free agent just before spring training, the right-hander has given up 10 runs over 6 1/3 innings in two starts.

Pete Alonso had an RBI double and Taylor Ward got three hits for the Orioles, who lost for the fifth time in six games.

Up next

Orioles: Were undecided on a starter for Monday night when they open a three-game road series against the Chicago White Sox and Erick Fedde (0-1, 5.40 ERA).

Pirates: Begin a three-game home series with San Diego on Monday night as rookie RHP Bubba Chandler (0-0, 0.00) faces RHP Germán Márquez (0-1, 12.00).

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds (10) scores on a sacrifice fly hit by Pittsburgh Pirates’ Spencer Horwitz off Baltimore Orioles pitcher Shane Baz during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nick Yorke singled home Bryan Reynolds in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

Reynolds doubled against Ryan Helsley (0-1) with one out. Baltimore then intentionally walked Ryan O’Hearn to bring up Yorke, who had entered as a pinch runner in the eighth. Yorke worked the count to 2-2 and fouled off a couple of pitches before Helsley delivered a 99 mph fastball that home plate umpire Dan Iassogna ruled a ball.

Helsley tapped his head to initiate an ABS challenge but the Orioles were out of them after failing on a pair of challenges earlier in the game. Yorke took the next pitch and lined a shot over the head of Baltimore left fielder Dylan Beavers to lift the Pirates to their fourth straight victory.

Reynolds had two of Pittsburgh’s eight hits. Jake Mangum delivered a game-tying run with an infield single in the eighth.

Dennis Santana (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth to set the stage for Yorke.

Adley Rutschman had two hits for Baltimore. Beavers and Leodys Taveras each drove in a run for the Orioles, who have dropped four of five. Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso went 0 for 4 and is now hitless in his last 11 at-bats.

The Pirates tied it in the eighth thanks to some shaky glove work by the Orioles. Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna reached when Baltimore third baseman Colby Mayo couldn’t wrangle a soft tapper. Yorke came on to run for Ozuna and made it to third via two groundouts and scored when Orioles second baseman Blaze Alexander couldn’t cleanly field Mangum’s chopper to the left side of the infield.

Shane Baz limited the Pirates to just one unearned run over 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander — a former first-round pick by the Pirates in 2017 — missed out on his first victory with the Orioles since being acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay when Baltimore’s defense faltered late.

Up next

The series wraps up on Sunday. Chris Bassitt (0-1, 8.31 ERA) starts for Baltimore against Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft (0-1, 3.00).

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Konnor Griffin hits an RBI double, his first Major League career hit and run, during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Konnor Griffin debuted in style. The 19-year-old Pirates shortstop delivered an RBI double in his first big league at-bat as Pittsburgh held off the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 on Friday.

Griffin, called up on Thursday and the consensus top prospect in baseball, looked every bit the part during an electric afternoon at PNC Park.

He laced a double to center field off Kyle Bradish (0-2) in the bottom of the second, then showcased his speed while racing home on a single to shallow right field by Jared Triolo.

The teenager, the youngest player to make his major league debut at shortstop since Alex Rodriguez did it at 18 for Seattle in 1994, also drew a walk and handled all of his defensive chances without an issue as the Pirates won their third straight. Griffin became the first Pirate under 20 to reach base twice in his debut since Bobby Del Greco in 1952.

The sellout crowd at PNC Park, which opened 25 years ago, or a full half-decade before Griffin was born on April 24, 2006, roared when Griffin was introduced during the pregame ceremony. The roars drew even louder when he took an 85 mph curveball from Bradish and sent it rocketing to the fence in center field.

Triolo, who moved from short to third after Griffin’s promotion, had a pair of hits and his first RBI of the season. Ryan O’Hearn, Henry Davis and Oneil Cruz also drove in runs for the Pirates.

Mitch Keller (1-0) allowed two runs and six hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Gregory Soto gave up a solo home run to Gunnar Henderson with two outs in the ninth, but rebounded by striking out former New York Mets teammate Pete Alonso to pick up his first save with Pittsburgh.

Henderson finished with three hits for Baltimore. Dylan Beavers and Blaze Alexander had two hits apiece for the Orioles. Bradish was touched for four runs and six hits with three walks and six strikeouts in four innings.

Up next

The series continues Saturday when Baltimore’s Shane Baz (0-0, 6.75 ERA) faces Pittsburgh’s Carmen Mlodzinski (0-0).

(File Photo of PNC Park)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Sheetz and the Pittsburgh Pirates launched a new initiative for the 2026 season called the “Home Runz for Hunger” program to support local food security efforts. Sheetz will donate $100 for every home run hit by the Pirates at PNC Park this year to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. This will begin this afternoon when the Pirates take on the Orioles for the team’s 2026 home opener. Each donation of $100 allows the food bank to provide approximately 300 meals to residents in need. The 2026 season marks the first year Sheetz will serve as the official home run activation partner of the Pirates, which expands a relationship between them that began in 2024.