Mitch Trubisky gets his first public razzing from Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Nose tackle Tyson Alualu is on board with his new teammate’s hope for a restructured defensive line. The Pirates and Phillies match up for a long weekend at PNC Park. And the Penguins are going to be part of a big party in Los Angeles next year.

All that in Thursday’s “First Call.”

More to come

Steelers fans are in mid-season form already.

After Mitch Trubisky threw incompletions on his first two throws at training camp as the Steelers first-string quarterback, one fan close to the field at Saint Vincent College very clearly yelled, “Get Pickett in there!”

The guy was kidding. I think.

Kenny Pickett, the Pitt product and first-round draft choice, worked with the third team. He threw an interception on the last play of practice. Near as I could tell, that same fan didn’t yell for fourth-stringer Chris Oladokun to replace him, though.

On the nose

If newly acquired Larry Ogunjobi prefers playing end versus nose tackle in the Steelers base 3-4 defense, that’s fine by Tyson Alualu.

It sounds like the Steelers veteran defensive lineman would prefer to come back on the nose anyway after last year’s ankle injury.

“Over the past couple of years, I’ve kind of been the man in the middle,” Alualu said Wednesday. “So that’s where I am most comfortable. But it doesn’t matter where I play, where they put me. I’m just glad to be back.”

Neither player is on the field at Steelers training camp yet. Ogunjobi is still recovering from a foot injury that ended his season with the Bengals in the playoffs. Alualu has some swelling in his knee.

Ogunjobi said this week that he’d play either the nose or end when the Steelers are in base, but he prefers the end position. The Steelers need someone there to fill the void left by Stephon Tuitt’s retirement. Alualu has played both spots since joining the Steelers in 2017.

Cross-state collision

The Pirates host the Phillies for four games starting tonight at PNC Park. The Phillies are 51-47, just a half game behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the last National League wild-card spot.

They come to the North Shore scuffling a bit, having lost four of their last six and eight of their last 13. However, they did just grab two of three from the N.L. wild card-leading Braves.

The numbers suggest that you shouldn’t expect the Pirates to score a lot of runs this weekend. The Pirates have scored the fewest runs in the National League (351). The Phillies have allowed only 406, fifth fewest in the N.L. The Phillies team ERA is 3.79, fifth best in the N.L.

Philly can hit the long ball, too. Their 126 home runs are tied with the Dodgers for third most in the N.L. behind only Atlanta (154) and Milwaukee (136). That said, 15 of those homers came from Bryce Harper who hasn’t played since June 25 thanks to an injured thumb.

Joining the ‘Pack

West Mifflin hockey product Eric Cooley is set to make his pro debut this fall in the AHL.

The 24-year-old forward is joining the defending Calder Cup Champion Chicago Wolves. Between two college stops at Ohio State and Niagara, Cooley totaled 29 goals and 81 points.

[OFFICIAL]: The Chicago Wolves announced that they have signed goaltender Cale Morris, defenseman David Farrance and forward Eric Cooley to Standard Player Contracts (SPC) for the 2022-23 season.

Welcome to Chicago, boys! @MidwestMoving

: https://t.co/utDjLABlJ1 pic.twitter.com/L5zqX2bc6F

— z - Chicago Wolves (@Chicago_Wolves) July 26, 2022

Cooley is the brother of Logan Cooley who was recently drafted third overall by the Arizona Coyotes.

There for the party

The Penguins will be part of some pomp and circumstance when they visit Los Angeles next season.

Via CBSSports.com, on Feb. 11, they will be the opponent the night the Kings honor former captain Dustin Brown. He is getting a statue and his No. 23 retired. Brown retired this spring after 18 seasons in L.A.

Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille are the only other players with statues in Kings history. Six former players — Gretzky (No. 99), Robitaille (No. 20), Marcel Dionne (No. 16), Rob Blake (No. 4), Rogie Vachon (No. 30) and Dave Taylor (18) — have their numbers retired.

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