Nick Gonzales keeps hitting.
The middle infielder, playing second base on Tuesday night for Indianapolis, went 2-for-4 with a walk. That extends his hitting streak...
The Pirates have Gold Glove third basemen in Ke'Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo. They've got another candidate in the system in power hitter Jack Brannigan.
Valentin Linarez had one of the biggest recorded velocity jumps in minor league baseball last year.
Baseball America tracked the year-over-year four-seam velocity gainers from...
At the start of the 2023 international signing period, the Pittsburgh Pirates added David Matoma as their first signing out of Uganda. The right-handed...
The Dominican and Puerto Rican All-Star squads faced off this evening (Sunday), and a four of the Pirates' former players and friends were involved, all on the Puerto Rican team:
Puerto Rican All-Stars 4, Dominican All-Stars 3 The Puerto Ricans and Dominicans put runners on base in the first three innings, but couldn't get any of them around to score. The Puerto Ricans finally got onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the 4th. Two singles and a ground out put two runners into scoring position. Former Indy Indian (2007) LF Luis Matos reached base on a throwing error at short, and both runners came in to score. A double brought in Matos to give the Puerto Ricans a 3-0 lead. The Dominicans came right back to tie the game in the top of the 5th. A double and a single plated one run, and a 2-run homer by 3B Victor Mercedes made it a 3-3 tie. The Puerto Ricans scratched out another run in the bottom of the 7th. A single, the third error by the Dominican shortstop, a ground out, and an RBI single gave the Puerto Ricans the lead. Former Pirate farmhand RJ Rodriguez pitched the top of the 8th for the Puerto Ricans. He struck out the first two batters of the inning, then finished it with a fly out. Former Indy Indian (2004) SS Luis Figueroa singled for Puerto Rico in the 1st inning, but didn't score. Former Pirate 3B Ramon Vazquez doubled in the 2nd, and also did not score.
MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE Aguilas de Mexicali 2, Venados de Mazatlan 1 -- A pair of singles around a sacrifice bunt gave Los Aguilas the first run of the game in the top of the 1st, and they repeated the trick for another run in the 6th. Two singles and a throwing error brought in Los Venados' only run in the 7th. RF Rogelios Noris singled in the 8th for Los Venados but was left on base. His fellow Pirate farmhand Matt Hague came in to play first base for Mexicali in the 8th, but did not get a plate appearance.
Every year some team does it. There's always at least one team that contends for a division title, or makes the playoffs, or even advances to the World Series on a payroll that dwells in the umbra of the Yankees' world. And then every fan and talking head wonders why their favorite team can't do the same thing. But if it were that easy, there wouldn't be a need for the gargantuan payrolls that exist in the game.
The Seattle Mariners acquired shortstop Brendan Ryan from the St. Louis Cardinals today, removing another shortstop candidate from the market. A week ago we...
The Pittsburgh Pirates added four players during the Winter Meetings this past week, signing Kevin Correia, Matt Diaz, and Scott Olsen, and selecting Josh...
Looking in on Pirates' players and friends in Saturday's winter league play-- The Puerto Rican and Dominican Leagues had today off, as they prepare for their All-Star teams to face off tomorrow.
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE Tigres de Aragua 5, Aguilas de Zulia 0 -- (Game 1) SS Ronny Cedeno tripled in Los Tigres' first two runs, after a double and a single in the 3rd inning. In the next inning, CF Lastings Milledge reached base on an error, and a walk and a single loaded the bases. A wild pitch brought in one run, and C Raul Chavez drove in the 2nd run of that inning with a sacrifice fly. Chavez also picked up an RBI in the 6th inning with a single that followed two walks. Milledge reached on a fielding error for the second time in the 6th inning, but he was picked off first. Tigres 9, Aguilas 2 -- (Game 2) Cedeno continued hitting in the night cap, going 2-for-3. The 6-run 3rd inning took care of things for Los Tigres. A triple began the inning, and Cedeno drove in the first run with a single. Three consecutive walks (one by 1B Hector Gimenez) drove in Cedeno, then three consecutive singles added three more runs. LF Jorge Cortes and C Miguel Perez each had one of those hits. A sacrifice fly made it 6 runs in the inning. Perez began another rally in the 6th inning with a walk, and he scored on an RBI double. Cedeno singled again, and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. After a single, another wild pitch let Cedeno cross the plate with the 3rd run of the inning. Tiburones de La Guaira 4, Leones del Caracas 3 -- Two runs in the bottom of the 9th gave Los Tiburones the walk-off win. A bases-loaded single drove in both runs. A 2-run homer in the top of the 1st started the game for Los Leones. La Guaira scored one run in the bottom of the inning, then tied the game with another run in the 4th. A hit batter and a single gave Los Leones a 3-2 lead in the 5th, and that's where the score remained until the bottom of the 9th. Jose Ascanio pitched the 8th inning for Caracas. He gave up a one-out single, then erased that runner and ended the inning with a double play. Former Pirate C Carlos Maldonado singled in the 2nd inning for Los Leones, but he was also erased with a double play.
Cheering for some Pirates' players and friends in Friday's winter league action:
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE Leones del Caracas 6, Tigres de Aragua 4 -- Caracas won this battle of the Big Cats. Los Leones scored first with a solo homer in the top of the 1st. Los Tigres tied it up in the 2nd inning. Two singles, including one by 1B Hector Gimenez, and a throwing error put runners on second and third bases. LF Lastings Milledge drove in the run with a ground out to third. Caracas took the lead again in the top of the 3rd, with a walk, a ground out, and an RBI single. The batter was out at second as he tried to advance on the throw to the plate: CF Jorge Cortes to C Raul Chavez to SS Ronny Cedeno, who tagged the runner out. Aragua took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 3rd, with a 3-run homer, after Chavez reached on a fielding error, a single, and Cedeno's sacrifice bunt. But Los Leones came right back with their own homer for 2 runs in the top of the 4th, then took the lead with another run on two singles. They added an insurance run in the top of the 9th, on two singles and a throwing error. Los Tigres did not score again, though Milledge singled in the 4th, Cedeno singled in the 5th, and Cortes singled in the 7th.
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE Gigantes de Carolina 8, Criollos de Caguas 3 -- Los Criollos managed only 5 hits, and two of those were by SS Luis Figueroa. Figueroa singled in the 3rd, and along with two more singles and two walks, Los Criollos scored 2 runs. Figueroa also reached on an error in the 4th, and that allowed Los Criollos' remaining run to score. He also singled in the 9th. 3B Ramon Vazquez went 0-for-4 for Caguas. Los Gigantes scored 2 runs in the 2nd and 4th innings, then added 4 runs in the 7th inning.
DOMINICAN LEAGUE Aguilas Cibaenas 10, Tigres del Licey 3 -- Los Tigres posted 10 hits but left 11 runners on base, scoring only 3 times. Licey scored a run in the 3rd on two singles and a sacrifice fly. LF Jake Fox and two others singled in the 7th, and one run scored when C Robinzon Diaz bounced into a double play. A single and a double gave Los Tigres their last run in the 8th. Diaz singled for Los Tigres in the 2nd inning, but DH Ronny Paulino (who just signed a contract with the Mets) went 0-for-3 with a walk. Los Aguilas put up their first run in the 4th, tying the game on two singles, a walk, and a wild pitch. Then they put the game out of reach with 4 runs in the 6th and 3 runs in the 7th. Denny Bautista came on to pitch for Licey in the 7th, and he gave up a walk and a 2-RBI double. Starling Marte scored one of those runs, since he had just come in to pinch-run. Marte remained in the game to play right field. He batted again in the 9th, and reached base on a fielding error, though was out on a force play at second. A walk and a single brought in two more Aguilas' runs in the 9th. LF Kevin Melillo went 0-for-3 for Los Aguilas.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have officially signed left hander Scott Olsen, according to the team's Twitter feed. We learned yesterday that Olsen received a one...
Rob Biertempfel has an update on the shortstop situation for the Pittsburgh Pirates, noting that the Pirates are still seeking a shortstop upgrade following...
