Kevin Gorman stories, Page 43

The Pittsburgh Pirates have expressed confidence that once a game reaches the seventh inning, their bullpen can close the door on a victory. After trading right-handed reliever Robert Stephenson to Tampa Bay for minor-league shortstop Alika Williams on Friday, the Pirates now have to determine who will serve as the...

The Pittsburgh Pirates continued to shake up their bullpen, trading right-handed reliever Robert Stephenson on Friday to the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league infielder Alika Williams. To fill Stephenson’s spot on the active roster, the Pirates recalled infielder Mark Mathias from Triple-A Indianapolis. Mathias, 28, batted .275/.370/.325 with two...

Where the Pittsburgh Pirates sounded ready to send Mayday distress signals at the start of their series at San Francisco, they talked like Giants killers after taking two out of three against baseball’s hottest team for their first series win in a month. The Pirates entered May with a 20-9...

Mitch Keller served as the stopper for another Pittsburgh Pirates streak and put his name in the club’s record books in the process. Inspired by another strong start from Keller and an offensive outburst, the Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-4, on Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park for their...

It had been a month since his last save opportunity, so David Bednar couldn’t wait to run to the mound at Oracle Park and close the door on the San Francisco Giants. One problem: The Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star closer couldn’t figure out how to open the door to exit the...

The San Francisco Giants used an opener, and it backfired. The Pittsburgh Pirates turned to their closer, and he fired back. Connor Joe homered off John Brebbia in the first inning, Rodolfo Castro scored the winning run on a wild pitch, and All-Star closer David Bednar earned his first save...

When Jack Suwinski smacked Anthony DeSclafani’s changeup over the right-field bleachers at Oracle Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder had no idea the ball had a splash landing in McCovey Cove. “I wasn’t aware of that,” Suwinski said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “I think I found out in the...

The Pittsburgh Pirates ran into the hottest team in baseball, and the San Francisco Giants pounded them into submission. Five players had three-hit games for the Giants, who compiled 18 hits and did the majority of their damage in the second and seventh innings in a 14-4 win Monday afternoon...

When the ball came off J.P. Crawford’s bat at an exit velocity of 99.9 mph, Ji Hwan Bae turned and chased it toward the center-field wall but had trouble tracking it with the sun directly overhead. Bae glanced at the wall straight ahead, then realized the ball had veered to...

After rallying to force extra innings, the Pittsburgh Pirates could only watch when Eugenio Suarez launched a Robert Stephenson slider that sailed over the left-field fence for a walk-off win. Suarez’s three-run blast in the bottom of the 10th, Seattle’s third homer of the game, boosted the Mariners to a...

The Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday placed right-handed starter Vince Velasquez on the 15-day injured list with right elbow discomfort and recalled righty reliever Cody Bolton from Triple-A Indianapolis. Velasquez was removed from Saturday’s 5-0 loss at Seattle after allowing four runs on seven hits and one walk in two innings....

Vince Velasquez’s return to the starting rotation for the Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t last long, as the right-hander pitched only two innings against the Seattle Mariners before being removed. The Pirates later announced that Velasquez left the game with right elbow discomfort, the same issue that kept him out since leaving...

When Mitch Keller hears his name mentioned as a potential All-Star and Cy Young candidate after the first two months of the season, the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander can’t suppress his smile. Then Keller makes it clear he’s in no way satisfied with the early success. What Keller really wants is...

As expected, the Pittsburgh Pirates activated right-hander Vince Velasquez from the 15-day injured list Saturday so he can return to the starting rotation. The corresponding move, however, was unexpected. To make room on the 26-man active roster, the Pirates designated right-handed reliever Duane Underwood Jr. for assignment. Velasquez (4-3, 3.06...

From the sound of the ball off his bat, Ke’Bryan Hayes thought he had a chance. The Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman watched it sail over Arizona right fielder Pavin Smith and off the Clemente Wall at PNC Park. “Off the bat, I felt like I stayed through it good,” Hayes...

Johan Oviedo was immaculate in the fourth inning and anything but in the first, when he surrendered a leadoff home run and gave up three runs to the Texas Rangers. It proved to be a deficit the Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t overcome. The Pirates had their chances late in the game,...

The Pittsburgh Pirates went 2,495 days between their pitchers throwing an immaculate innings, then needed only 20 days to do it again. Johan Oviedo completed the feat by striking out three batters on nine pitches in the fourth inning Wednesday afternoon against the Texas Rangers. It was the second immaculate...

Even though the Pittsburgh Pirates struggled from the start against the Texas Rangers, Rich Hill wasn’t in the mood to make excuses or shift blame to anyone or anything else. On a night the 43-year-old left-hander recorded nine strikeouts, Hill took full responsibility for the three-run sixth inning that allowed...

Luis Ortiz had been hit-or-miss in his first two starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates, so to change it up the 24-year-old rookie right-hander turned to the newest addition to his pitch repertoire against the hottest-hitting team in baseball. Ortiz used a changeup to complement his fastball/slider combination against the Texas...

Tucupita Marcano came to bat with two runners on base in the fifth inning but got behind in the count after swinging at a slider and fouling off a changeup against Arizona’s Merrill Kelly. Marcano worked a full count then smacked a tying, two-run double to the right-field corner for...

Whether it was wild pitches or errant throws, the Pittsburgh Pirates were off the mark against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and it cost them a chance at a series win. Five wild pitches and a trio of throwing errors were the most prominent mistakes to doom the Pirates in an 8-3...

Carlos Santana doesn’t want to hear about his age, scoffing at suggestions that, at 37, he’s too old to be an everyday player or that he’s nearing the end of his major-league career. The Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman is proving naysayers wrong this season, as he ranks at the top...

When the Pittsburgh Pirates last played at PNC Park, they scored a grand total of nine runs over a six-game homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays and Colorado Rockies. This time, the Bucs brought their bats. Behind a seven-run fourth inning and Bryan Reynolds’ three-run homer in the fifth, the...

Amid the clamoring for the Pittsburgh Pirates to promote top prospects Endy Rodriguez or Henry Davis, backup catcher Jason Delay has quietly proven to be more productive than anticipated. Where starting catcher Austin Hedges is hitting .143, Delay has a team-best .339 batting average (19 for 56) in 21 games...

After not allowing a home run in his first five starts, Roansy Contreras gave up one in each of his past two starts. The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander never had surrendered more than one homer in a game. The Baltimore Orioles changed that by the second inning. Adley Rutschman and Gunnar...