Anthony Rizzo's 12th-inning sacrifice fly was enough to lift the Chicago Cubs past the Pittsburgh Pirates by a 3-2 score Wednesday night. Cubs ace Jake Arrieta was attempting to become the first Cubs pitcher since Jon Lieber in 2001 to record 20 wins. He has thrown 17 straight quality starts and has thrown at least eight innings in his last four starts. His eight-game winning streak, however, was snapped as he had a no-decision. Pirates starter A.J. Burnett went 5.1 innings and escaped ... Read More
Pirates pregame 9/16: Arrieta faces Pirates on Clemente Day
Following a split of the day/night doubleheader, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs will face off once again, this time in the third game of a four-game series. The Pirates have the unenviable task of facing Jake Arrieta tonight on Roberto Clemente Day. Arrieta is looking to be the first Cubs starting pitcher with 20 wins since Jon Lieber accomplished the feat in 2001. “When you’re connected to the game to win 20 games is still impressive," manager Clint Hurdle said. "It’s just so ... Read More
4-run eighth leads Columbus over Indy in Governor’s Cup
The Indians of Indianapolis took on the Triple-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians, the Columbus Clippers, in Game 1 of the Governors' Cup Championship Series in Columbus. Indianapolis advanced to the championship series by way of sweeping in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 3-0 in a best-of-five game semifinal series. The Clippers earned their opportunity to face the Indians by defeating the Norfolk Tide 3-2 in their best-of-five series. Sharing identical records ... Read More
Florimon finds niche as pinch-runner
Pedro Florimon had one job in the first game of the Pirates’ split doubleheader Tuesday: Score the game-winning run for Pittsburgh. With the score tied at four, Florimon ascended the stairs of the third base dugout and headed toward first base in the bottom of the eighth inning to serve as a pinch-runner for Pedro Alvarez, who had just hit a lead-off single. The speedy Florimon was called on to replace the lumbering Alvarez with the hope that he would have an easier time rounding the bases to ... Read More
West Virginia Black Bears capture New York-Penn League title
On the road for Game 2 of a best-of-three-game New York-Penn League Championship, the West Virginia Black Bears had the Staten Island Yankees on the brink of elimination. The Black Bears, coming of a walk-off win in their first ever New York-Penn League Championship game Monday night, looked to put the Baby Bombers away in Game 2. West Virginia was able to do just that via late inning heroics and the long ball in a 3-1 victory. The Black Bears went down early as a result of a Jhalen ... Read More
AM Joe: Playoff spot on line in Hounds home finale
Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Wednesday, September 16, 2015. What's on tap for today: The Pirates (87-57) will go up against Chicago Cubs (83-61) Jake Arreita in what could be a preview of the NL Wild Card game. A.J. Burnett takes the mound for the Bucs at 7:05 p.m. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh. The Riverhounds will host the first-place Rochester Rhinos in their final home match of 2015 tonight. The Hounds are one point out of playoff position with two games to ... Read More
Lester uses complete game effort to shutout Pirates
J.A. Happ battled for 5.2 innings but did not receive any run support as the Pittsburgh Pirates fell to the Chicago Cubs in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader by a 2-1 score. Happ's [5-2] biggest battle came in the fifth inning. David Ross led off with a double, one of his two hits in the game and Jon Lester hit a sacrifice fielder's choice. The throw to Ramirez at third was late as he did not get the tag down in time, something which was confirmed by video review. Dexter Fowler ... Read More
September call-ups make difference in Pirates Game 1 victory
20-plus media members and five camera lined up by Gerrit Cole's locker following the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs Tuesday afternoon as part of a doubleheader. Jordy Mercer observed the scene and was surprised by the growing amounts of media that pay visits to the clubhouse. "They're focused daily and that's one of the reasons why we've been so successful," manager Clint Hurdle said. "We can't control the externals. There's more people that are going to come, more ... Read More
Pirates pregame 9/15: Doubleheader begins highly anticipated series
Sunny skies and at least 18 innings await the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs in today's day/night doubleheader. Gerrit Cole and J.A. Happ will throw for the Pirates against Jason Hammel and Jon Lester. Cole is 6-1 against the Cubs with a 2.93 ERA in seven career starts. He last pitched Sept. 6 against the St. Louis Cardinals allowing two hits in seven scoreless innings. "I'm getting to see him for the first time this year," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "This guy is a really good ... Read More
Black Bears take home Game 1
Monongalia Ballpark played host to its first New York-Penn League Championship game Monday night and Game 1 of the championship series did not disappoint. The West Virginia Black Bears made the most of its stadium's championship debut as fans got free baseball, as well as a 4-3 Black Bears victory. West Virgina, playing their inaugural season in Morgantown, needed 11 innings to get past the Staten Island Yankees in Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series to take a 1-0 series ... Read More