Category: Sports

Endy Rodríguez, Quinn Priester debut for Pirates, who step up youth movement

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Quinn Priester (64) walks from the bullpen after warming up with catcher Endy Rodriguez for their major league debuts in a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Endy Rodríguez, the No. 3 ranked prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system, was promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis. The 23-year-old was behind the plate and hit seventh against Cleveland in his big league debut. Quinn Priester, a 22-year-old right-hander, was on the mound for his debut. Rodríguez hit .268 with six home runs and 38 RBIs in 67 games with Indianapolis this season. He was acquired from the New York Mets on Jan. 19, 2021, in a three-team trade that also involved San Diego.

Josh Naylor’s 3 RBIs Lead Guardians over Pirates 11-0 to End 4-Game Skid

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Josh Naylor had three RBIs with a home run and a double, helping the Cleveland Guardians rout the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-0 on Monday night to end a four-game losing streak.

Naylor’s sixth-inning RBI double extended his hitting streak to eight games and gave Cleveland a 5-0 lead. He drove a Yohan Ramirez sinker over the left-field wall in the seventh for a nine-run lead, the last of the Guardians’ trio of two-run homers.

“When he drives the ball the other way, he’s so dangerous,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “That’s why I don’t think we haven’t seen yet the best of him. I just think there’s more in there. I’m not saying he’s not doing great. I’m just saying there’s more in there.”

Steven Kwan added an RBI single in the eighth and Myles Straw had a run-scoring infield single in the ninth. Cleveland had totaled 10 runs during its four losses.

Michael Kelly (1-0) struck out two and allowed two hits in 1 2/3 innings for his first major league win. Xzavion Curry gave up one hit and one walk in three innings.

“I think it’s great for us to just be able to band together as a bullpen,” Curry said. “Put a strong game together to be able to get the team back into the win column and hopefully get things rolling.”

Quinn Priester (0-1), the fourth-ranked prospect in the Pirates’ system, allowed seven runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings in his major league debut.

“Just kind of getting the feel,” Priester said. “Feeling that confidence, feeling the game situation and learning. Ultimately I might have failed a little bit tonight, but those failures are gonna push me to get better.”

Endy Rodríguez, ranked third, also debuted to catch Priester in a battery often used at Triple-A Indianapolis. He was 0 for 4 and struck out three times.

“It felt good. Felt great,” Rodríguez said. “Tomorrow’s another day, right? … I wasn’t nervous. I saw the ball well.”

Pittsburgh has lost four in a row, eight of nine and 11 of 13, falling a season-high 12 games below .500 at 41-53 after a 20-8 start. The Pirates were shut out for the 10th time and held to four hits or fewer for the 17th time.

Cleveland pitched its ninth shutout, one shy of the big league high.

Following a 47-minute rain delay, Priester gave up one hit in the first four innings, a two-run homer to Amed Rosario n the fourth. Bo Naylor doubled into the left-centerfield notch, extending the lead to 3-0 in the fifth.

José Ramírez had an RBI double ahead of Naylor’s double in a four-run sixth and Andrés Giménez hit a two-run homer.

“I think we were able to see (Priester’s) stuff,” Giménez said. “Obviously, he was attacking us in the strike zone with the fastball early on. We saw what his pitches were doing. The second time through, we were able to execute.”

McCutchen activated from injured by Pirates, who plan to give Priester debut Monday

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Andrew McCutchen was activated from the 10-day injured list by the Pittsburgh Pirates as pitching prospect Quinn Priester was added to the taxi squad ahead of his likely major league debut Monday. McCutchen missed six games with right elbow inflammation since last playing July 5. Entering Sunday, the 36-year-old led the Pirates among qualified players with a .268 batting average in 74 games this season, his 15th in the major leagues. McCutchen was the designated hitter and hit third in a series finale against San Francisco. Infielder Rodolfo Castro was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Bob Huggins says he plans to stay in rehab and wants to return to West Virginia as coach

FILE – West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins reacts to a call in the second half of a first-round college basketball game against Maryland in the NCAA Tournament in Birmingham, Ala., March 16, 2023. In a statement released Monday, July 10, Huggins said he checked into a rehabilitation facility following a drunken driving arrest and disputes that he resigned at West Virginia, accusing the university of releasing a “false statement” about him stepping down. (AP Photo/Butch Dill, File)

Bob Huggins says he has checked into a rehabilitation facility following a drunken driving arrest and disputes that he resigned at West Virginia. Huggins issued a statement Monday saying he wanted to “set the record straight” on the events of the past two weeks since his arrest in Pittsburgh on June 16. Huggins says he never gave formal notice to resign under the terms of his contract. He also says a resignation statement issued by the university on June 17 indicating it was from Huggins was not drafted or reviewed by him. The university says it has no plans to reinstate Huggins.

Pittsburgh Pirates activate outfielder Bryan Reynolds from 10-day injured list

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds warms up before a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Thursday, June 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates have activated outfielder Bryan Reynolds from the 10-day injured list. Reynolds was in the starting lineup for the finale of a weekend set against Milwaukee, batting second and playing left field in his first big league game since June 19. He had been sidelined by lower back inflammation. Pittsburgh also placed infielder Ji Hwan Bae on the 10-day IL with a left ankle sprain. Bae got hurt during Saturday’s 11-8 loss to the Brewers.

Rookie Gonzales Homers and Triples in His Home Debut as The Pirates Beat The Padres 9-4

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates used the seventh overall pick in the 2020 draft on Nick Gonzales in part because of the power he’s able to generate out of his slight 5-foot-9 frame.

Nearly three years later, that power is finally on display in the major leagues.

Gonzales tripled in the second inning for his first big league hit, and then drilled a 442-foot homer to center as the Pirates broke out of an extended funk with a 9-4 win over San Diego on Tuesday night.

Asked if he typically deposits a ball that far beyond the wall during batting practice, the 24-year-old just laughed and said: “I don’t hit many homers during BP, that’s for sure.”

Maybe that’s why Gonzales found himself staring a little longer than usual at the drive that reached the batter’s eye for his first major league homer.

“I wasn’t really sure where it would land,” he said. “Rounding first base, seeing it hit the wall was pretty cool.”

So was seeing the Pirates emerge from a 1-12 slide that dropped them from first to fourth in the NL Central, a freefall in which the offense failed to score more than three runs 10 times.

There were no such issues against San Diego spot starter Reiss Knehr (0-1) and three relievers. Pittsburgh racked up 16 hits and went 7 for 15 with runners in scoring position after going just 3 for 25 in that category while dropping three of four in Miami over the weekend.

Carlos Santana had three hits, including his seventh homer of the season. Andrew McCutchen collected three singles, rookie Henry Davis added two hits and outfielder Jack Suwinski ended an 0-for-29 funk by hitting a solo homer in the third.

“(To have) both Henry and Nick having good days, I think that’s really important,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said.

Rich Hill (7-7) put together six steady innings in the rain to improve to 7-1 in his last 11 starts against the Padres. Roansy Contreras worked three innings for his first major league save.

The Sports Corner With Ralph Williams and Smokin Jim Frazier Today at 5PM on Beaver County Radio

(Brighton Twp., Pa.) Tune into Beaver County Radio Tuesday at 5PM for the all new “Sports Corner” with Ralph Williams and Smokin Jim Frazier.
Tonight’s guest are  Ray Fidepaldo from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette,  Leo Haggerty from Amped Up Sports, and Joey Davis from draft 412.
The show will also be presented via Facebook Live on the Beaver County Radio Facebook Page. Just Click the link below at game time:

If you can’t tune into the show you can click the link below to listen on-line via beavercountyradio.com:

You can also down load our free apps:

Clark Haggans, Longtime NFL Linebacker Who Won a Super Bowl With the Steelers, Dies at 46

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Clark Haggans, an outside linebacker who won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers during a 13-year career that included stops in Arizona and San Francisco, has died. He was 46.

The Larimer County coroner’s office said in a release that it responded to a residence in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Monday to investigate the death of a male who was identified as Haggans. An autopsy was completed Wednesday with the cause and manner of death pending further investigation, the coroner’s office said. No foul play was evident.

The Steelers took a chance on Haggans in the fifth round of the 2000 draft. He responded by becoming a special teams ace before graduating into a starting role opposite Joey Porter on a defense that regularly ranked among the best in the NFL.

Haggans’ finest season came in 2005. He racked up a career-best nine sacks and was a disruptive force in the playoffs as Pittsburgh won three straight road games to reach the Super Bowl. Haggans had one of three Steelers sacks in the title game against the Seahawks as the franchise earned its fifth championship.

Haggans headed west to Arizona in 2008 but went down with a foot injury in mid-December, forcing him to sit out a postseason run that ended with the Cardinals falling to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.

Haggans played for Arizona from 2008-11 and spent his final season in the league with the 49ers in 2012, finishing with 46 1/2 sacks in 172 games.

Haggans grew up near Torrance, California, before starring at Colorado State in the late 1990s. He helped the Rams to a pair of Western Athletic Conference titles and his 33 sacks remain a program record.

Stroman Runs His Winning Streak To 7, Helping The Cubs Beat The Pirates 4-0

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Marcus Stroman doesn’t pour over analytics. That’s simply not his style. The Chicago Cubs ace likes to think he gets by on confidence and elite stuff.

He’s got plenty of both at the moment.

Stroman limited the Pittsburgh Pirates to five hits over seven masterful innings in a 4-0 victory Tuesday night to push his personal winning streak to a career-best seven games, though he insists he’s not keeping track.

“I’m not someone who overanalyzes lineups,” Stroman said after improving to 9-4. “The last thing I want to do is be negative in any at-bat, in any moment. I don’t (ever) want to think that the hitter that I’m facing is better than I am. So I just attack.”

Stroman struck out five against one walk while shaving his ERA to 2.28, tops in the National League. He hasn’t lost in well over a month, a stretch in which his game plan is pretty much to listen to whatever catcher Tucker Barnhart calls and go from there.

“(He) allows me to be creative, allows me to see the game and play the game,” Barnhart said. “(It’s) like you’re in high school, you know … like playing a video game.”

Stroman used six efficient innings to beat Pittsburgh last week at Wrigley Field. He was even better at PNC Park. While the Pirates pecked away occasionally — putting at least one runner on base in five of Stroman’s seven innings of work — they never really came close to breaking through.

Pittsburgh’s best chance to make a game of it came in the seventh when Joe doubled with one out and Ji Hwan Bae walked two batters later. Pinch-hitter Cal Mitchell — called up from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier Tuesday — put together an eight-pitch at-bat that included a liner to the left-field corner that was foul by a foot or two. Stroman struck out Mitchell with a 93 mph sinker two pitches later to end the threat.

Stroman’s surge began with a 10-1 win over Philadelphia on May 19. He has a 1.29 ERA during a span that has helped the Cubs steady themselves during an otherwise erratic stretch in which they have struggled to gain momentum.

“I’d say he’s the MVP of our group so far,” Cubs manager David Ross said.

Barnhart hit his first home run of the season for the Cubs. Mike Tauchman homered for the second time in three games and Ian Happ added two hits against his hometown team as Chicago won for the seventh time in eight games after posting their ninth shutout of the season, tied for the most in the majors.

“We’re just playing good team baseball where all departments are carrying their weight and that puts for a good product and a good chance to win every single night,” Ross said.

Former top pick Henry Davis arrives in Pittsburgh eager to help after sprint through the minors

Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 first round draft pick Henry Davis talks with reporters, after being called up from AAA Indianapolis, before a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Pittsburgh, Monday, June 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Henry Davis is officially a big leaguer. The Pittsburgh Pirates have called up the top overall pick in the 2021 draft hoping his bat can give their offense a needed jolt. The 23-year-old Davis hit .284 in the minors this spring, with 11 home runs between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. Davis was drafted as a catcher but will play in right field for the time being while he continues to work on his defense behind the scenes. Davis says he’ll play wherever manager Derek Shelton wants him to if it helps the Pirates win.