Kevin Gorman stories, Page 117
Former Pirates first-round pick Will Craig gets the call to make major-league debut at Cards
When Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton called Will Craig into his office Thursday morning, the conversation was short and sweet. The magnitude, however, was major. “I think my exact words were, ‘Hey, do you want to play in a big-league game?’” Shelton said. “A big smile came across his face.”...
Pirates place Keone Kela, Colin Moran on IL, recall reliever Nick Mears, 1B Will Craig
The Pittsburgh Pirates placed closer Keone Kela on the 10-day injured list and corner infielder Colin Moran on the seven-day concussion IL on Thursday. Both moves are retroactive to Aug. 24. Kela has been out with right forearm inflammation since leaving the Aug. 21 game against the Cleveland Indians in...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: After the Pirates played, the sports world spoke up, shut downVideo
The sports world spoke up and shut down. Many Black baseball players and select MLB teams followed the lead of the NBA by sitting out their games Wednesday night, shifting the focus of the season from covid-19 concerns to racial and societal injustice. If video of the shooting of Jacob...
White Sox hit 4 home runs, pound Pirates for 2-game series sweep
A day after being no-hit by Lucas Giolito, Cole Tucker wanted to ensure there would be no encore. Knowing he was batting leadoff, Tucker made up his mind the moment he awoke. “Just from Pitch 1, I wanted to go out there and kind of change the narrative of how...
Pirates trade for lefty reliever Austin Davis, sending Phillies cash, player to be named
The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired left-handed reliever Austin Davis on Wednesday, sending cash considerations and a player to be named in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. Davis, 27, was 0-0 with a 21.00 ERA and 3.67 WHIP in four appearances for the Phillies this season before being designated for assignment...
Right-hander Cody Ponce to start for Pirates in doubleheader Thursday at St. Louis Cardinals
Right-hander Cody Ponce, who accompanied the team on the trip as part of the taxi squad, will start one of the games of Thursday’s doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. The Pirates are playing the games at Busch Stadium to make up for the...
Colin Moran, Keone Kela unavailable as Pirates continue to monitor their injuries
A day after Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton declared infielder Colin Moran and closer Keone Kela “available” to play against the Chicago White Sox, the team’s director of sports medicine said both players are still unavailable while being monitored for injuries. Moran is being evaluated for concussion-like symptoms after a...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates knew they were in danger of being no-hit by Lucas Giolito
With the way Lucas Giolito was showing command of his pitches and mixing his fastball and changeup, Derek Shelton knew by the fourth or fifth inning that “it was the best stuff I’ve seen him have.” The Pittsburgh Pirates manager saw plenty of Giolito the past two seasons in the...
Lucas Giolito throws MLB’s first no-hitter this season as White Sox blank Pirates
When Erik Gonzalez came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, Chicago White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito was one out away from throwing a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gonzalez didn’t want to be a footnote as the final out. “I was a little bit mad,” Gonzalez said,...
Changes in approach, arm angle increased confidence of Pirates reliever Geoff Hartlieb
If Geoff Hartlieb looks like a different pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season, it’s entirely by design. He’s made adjustments head to toe, from his approach and arm angle to fixing his footwork. All of the changes have led to a more confident Hartlieb, who is embracing his newfound...
Cole Tucker’s outfield glove story is as good as gold — or platinum, depending on the day
By Cole Tucker’s count, he’s only 34 days into his career as a center fielder but that hasn’t stopped him from wearing a Platinum Glove one day or a Gold Glove the next. When the Pittsburgh Pirates approached the shortstop about playing the outfield for the first time, there was...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Gregory Polanco snapping out of slump helps Pirates exhale
Before he broke out of his slump, Gregory Polanco heard about it every day. In the batting cage, from Pittsburgh Pirates hitting coach Rick Eckstein. Or in the office of Pirates manager Derek Shelton. They saw hard contact and believed Polanco would start hitting. And they wanted him to see...
Gregory Polanco snaps out of slump as Pirates pound Brewers for 2nd straight win
Derek Shelton predicted that Gregory Polanco’s bat was coming around. The Pittsburgh Pirates manager saw something special in the right fielder in spite of his low batting average and high strikeout rate. Shelton believed Polanco was too healthy and too talented for his struggles to continue, and the hard hits...
How the Pirates pitchers fighting for 1 spot became four-fifths of starting rotation
Derek Holland can be candid to a fault, so the Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander didn’t hesitate to call 2020 a circus, from the shutdown of spring training to what he calls Camp Covid to a shortened 60-game season interrupted by postponements. That has made this season something of a juggling act...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: A web gem, bunt single make for a Kuhl victory for the PiratesVideo
There are dates that Chad Kuhl remembers and dates he can’t forget, so there is a huge difference in his memory between June 15 and June 25 on the 2018 calendar year. But both became significant on Friday night, when Kuhl pitched five innings and registered his first victory in...
Bryan Reynolds’ four-RBI night helps Pirates snap four-game losing streak, beat Brewers
For a team that was offensively scuffling, Derek Shelton sure was confident the Pittsburgh Pirates would rediscover the timing on their swings sometime soon. The rookie manager preached patience and positivity while predicting that the hard-hit balls by struggling hitters such as Bryan Reynolds eventually would pay off. Reynolds went...
MLB announces that Pirates, Reds will make up postponed games with pair of doubleheaders
The Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds will make up their two games postponed last weekend with a pair of doubleheaders on separate dates in September, MLB announced on Friday. The games, originally scheduled for Aug. 15-16 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, were postponed after a Reds player tested...
Pirates GM Ben Cherington already listening to trade talk, says no players are off limits
With the MLB trade deadline 10 days away, Ben Cherington made it clear the Pittsburgh Pirates are active in trade talks, and no one in the organization is untouchable. Cherington is approaching his first trade deadline as Pirates general manager with the mindset of making the club stronger for the...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: It’s really bad when Shane Bieber has more wins than the Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t decide which was worse, how Shane Bieber blanked them in a 2-0 win or that the Cleveland Indians right-hander has more wins this season (five) than they do (four). But who’s counting? The Pirates (4-17) not only have the worst record in baseball but the worst...
Struggling Pirates no match for Shane Bieber, Indians
With a struggling offense and several starters sitting out, the last thing the Pittsburgh Pirates needed was to face one of baseball’s best pitchers. Shane Bieber showed no mercy. The right-hander had 11 strikeouts in six scoreless innings, as the Cleveland Indians beat the Pirates, 2-0, on Thursday night at...
Pirates president Travis Williams tests positive for covid-19
Pittsburgh Pirates president Travis Williams tested positive for covid-19, he announced Thursday in a statement. Williams said the team has conducted contact tracing, and he wasn’t around any players or members of the coaching staff or baseball operations because the Pirates were in Cincinnati last week. The Pirates had three...
Erik Gonzalez using hot bat, great glove to show Pirates he wants shot at a starting role
Erik Gonzalez couldn’t help but cringe when he watched Phillip Evans run full speed into Gregory Polanco’s elbow in right field, a memory the Pittsburgh Pirates infielder didn’t want to watch let alone relive. Gonzalez waited three years with the Cleveland Indians for his chance to become an everyday player....
Pirates doomed by another Carlos Santana 3-run homer
For the second consecutive night, Carlos Santana crushed a three-run home run to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. This time, he left no doubt about whether it was fair or foul. Santana broke a scoreless tie by smacking a 401-foot shot over the Clemente Wall in the sixth inning, and another...
Pirates injury update: Phillip Evans will require jaw surgery, Joe Musgrove to throw off slope
The broken jaw Phillip Evans suffered in an outfield collision with Gregory Polanco will require surgery and be wired shut, Pittsburgh Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday. Evans was leading the Pirates with a .359 batting average and nine RBIs before suffering the season-ending injury while playing...
Extra-inning losses teach Pirates to keep battling late in gamesVideo
Back-to-back strikeouts by Gregory Polanco and Erik Gonzalez provided a humbling end to another extra-inning loss for the Pittsburgh Pirates and served as a symbol of their season. The Pirates went down swinging. Their reaction to the 6-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians in 10 innings Tuesday night at PNC...
