Latest news with #DerekShelton
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How Pirates finally ended pathetic 30-inning scoreless streak
The post How Pirates finally ended pathetic 30-inning scoreless streak appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Pittsburgh Pirates might be the most inconsistent team in baseball this season. After Pittsburgh refused to allow a run in a three-game sweep over the Cardinals recently, the team then failed to score a run in a three-game sweep by Seattle. Now, the Bucs finally ended that pathetic 30-inning scoreless streak. Advertisement The Pirates finally did it on Monday, in a 9-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Tommy Pham blasted a two-run homer to get that awful monkey off the team's back, per the Associated Press. Pham's homer came in the third inning of the game. It unfortunately wasn't enough to lift the team to a victory. Pittsburgh has lost four in a row, after winning six straight before that. The Pirates have struggled for the entire season Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images The Pirates became the first team in MLB history to allow no runs in a three-game series, before turning right around to never score a run in the next series of at least three games. That is according to OPTA Stats. Advertisement Pittsburgh is dead last in the National League Central division this campaign. The Pirates have been sitting in that cellar for essentially the entire year. Following their loss on Monday, the Bucs are now 38-54 on the campaign. Things are so bad in Pittsburgh that the manager didn't even last two full months of the season. Derek Shelton got fired in May, and was replaced by Don Kelly. Kelly has the team performing well at home, but the road has been a different story. All four of Pittsburgh's defeats in this four-game losing streak came away from PNC Park. This season, Pittsburgh is a woeful 12-33 on the road. The Bucs pitching staff has done well enough to win. Ace Paul Skenes, who is headed to his second consecutive All-Star game, threw five innings of shutout baseball against the Mariners on Sunday. Pittsburgh lost 1-0 in that game, after Skenes got pulled and the bullpen allowed a run in the sixth. The Pirates offense, though, has again been a different story. Pittsburgh is near the bottom of Major League Baseball in most offensive categories. This includes dead last among teams in home runs. The Pirates have just 62 homers on the year. Advertisement Pham is hitting better of late for the struggling Bucs. While he holds just a .238 batting average, he has lifted it since June 23. On that day, he was at just .216 on the season. Pham has posted five hits in his last four games, including that two-run moonshot on Monday. This is his first season in Pittsburgh. The Pirates hope to snap the losing streak when they play Kansas City again on Tuesday. Related: MLB rumors: Jon Heyman hits Cubs with warning about possible Pirates trade Related: Pirates' Paul Skenes drops 'stupid' take on All-Star Game
Hindustan Times
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Pirates ride six-game winning streak into Seattle
The Pittsburgh Pirates are on a roll. Pirates ride six-game winning streak into Seattle The Pirates have not only won six consecutive games heading into their interleague series that begins Friday afternoon in Seattle, but they are coming off a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in which they didn't allow a run. A team that was just 12-26 when Derek Shelton was fired as manager on May 8 has been playing better than .500 ball for replacement Don Kelly. "I feel like this is the team we were rolling out with in spring training," Pirates shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa said. "This is the original plan. You can kind of see what we were expecting going into the year." The Pirates have outscored their opponents 43-4 during their winning streak, and their staff has combined for 31 consecutive scoreless innings. "Our starters have been fantastic," Kelly said. "We've talked about the run support and how there have been a lot of games where it hasn't been there. They've continued to be the same pitchers. Then you see the last few games where it's continued to be the same. "The starting pitching has been the same guys going out there, and it's been really nice to be able to score some runs for them. If the starters continue to do what they've done, the consistency has been unbelievable, and that's the foundation for us. They've done a really good job." Whether they can duplicate that success on the road remains to be seen. The Pirates are just 12-29 away from Pittsburgh as they embark on a nine-game trip that also will take them to Kansas City and Minnesota. "We've got to stay healthy, got to stay together, and we've got to back up our pitching. That's our strength," Kiner-Falefa said. "It's nice to be 100 percent right now. I think that's all that matters. If we can be 100 percent, who knows what can happen?" While the Pirates were idle on Thursday, the Mariners took a 3-2 defeat against the visiting Kansas City Royals, who managed a split of the four-game series. Jorge Polanco and Dominic Canzone hit solo homers, but the rest of the Seattle offense provided little support. Julio Rodriguez struck out four times, getting caught looking at a called third strike with runners at second and third in the ninth inning. The Mariners went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. "I think we all come away frustrated, but that's why we come back tomorrow ready to go, and that's what we have to do," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. Pirates pitchers will have to deal with Mariners All-Star catcher Cal Raleigh, who was selected the American League's Player of the Month for June after batting .300 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs. Raleigh leads the majors with 33 homers. The Pirates hadn't officially named a starter for the Friday matinee, while the Mariners plan to send right-hander Bryan Woo to the mound. Woo, who has pitched at least six innings in all 16 of his starts this season, is coming off a no-decision at Texas on Saturday. He allowed two runs, both unearned, over six innings in a game the Mariners lost 3-2 in 10 innings. He fanned nine, matching his season best, for the second start in a row. Woo will face the Pirates for the first time in his career. Field Level Media This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pirates Manager Gets 'Serious' Attention Amid Paul Skenes Speculation
Pirates Manager Gets 'Serious' Attention Amid Paul Skenes Speculation originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Pittsburgh Pirates fired manager Derek Shelton on May 8 after a 12-26 start to the season, and replaced Shelton with bench coach Don Kelly, who became the interim head coach. Advertisement Amid growing frustration around baseball with the Pirates' lack of competitiveness with Paul Skenes in tow, the move to fire Shelton signaled urgency to start trying to win more ballgames. Skenes' 4-6 record despite his 1.88 ERA and 0.84 WHIP is just bad for baseball, and complaints over his stats seem to be redundant at this point. However, Kelly is quietly earning praise for his handling of a tough situation. Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) delivers a pitch to Chicago Cubs designated hitter Seiya Suzuki (27) during the first inning at PNC LeClaire-Imagn Images Since Kelly took over, the Pirates are 15-14, but they have fallen to 13.5 games out of first place, down from 10 on May 8. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted Kelly's local roots as a Mount Lebanon native who found his way to the big leagues after playing infield for nearby Point Park University. Jon Heyman, insider for MLB Network, even went as far as to say that Kelly has already earned an extension. Advertisement The Gazette's Jason Mackey asserted that Kelly's ejection on May 10 was a suggestion from legendary manager Jim Leyland as a means of earning respect. Leyland, who coached the Pirates from 1986-1996, was inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame in 2024. Mackey, along with ESPN insider Jeff Passan, have praised the job Kelly has done at stabilizing the trajectory of the Pirates' season. Even if the idea of a playoff bid feels laughable, the new skipper has commanded the respect of the city and seems to enjoy this newfound attention. Related: Pirates General Manager Silences Paul Skenes Trade Rumors: 'Not Part of the Conversation' Related: Yankees Announcer Rips Pirates for Failing Paul Skenes This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
CBS News
25-05-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Pirates ace Paul Skenes on the idea the last-place club should trade him: 'Anybody can play GM'
Paul Skenes didn't hear Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington say that trading the reigning National League Rookie of the Year to give the last-place club an influx of much-needed position player talent is " not at all part of the conversation." When someone relayed Cherington's comments to him, the 22-year-old ace laughed. "It doesn't affect anything," Skenes told The Associated Press late Friday night after the Pirates rallied for a 6-5, 10-inning win over Milwaukee. "Anybody can play GM." True, but it says something about where the Pirates are currently at — well out of playoff position before Memorial Day — that Cherington's uncharacteristically blunt answer made headlines anyway. Yet if Skenes, who celebrated his first anniversary in the majors two weeks ago, has learned anything during his rise to stardom over the last three years, it's that noise is not the same as news. "There's no substance to just all that talk that you hear on social media and news outlets and stuff like that," Skenes said. It's one of the many reasons he makes it a point to try and block all the noise out. Yes, Skenes understands that baseball is a business — he said as much after manager Derek Shelton was fired on May 8 — but he also knows his business at this point in his career is focused entirely on throwing a baseball, not worrying about who he's throwing it for. There could very well be a time when Skenes moves on, either by Pittsburgh's choice or his own. That time, at least to Skenes, is not coming anytime soon. Pittsburgh is last in the major leagues in runs with 157, and no high-profile position player prospect is ready to walk into the home clubhouse at PNC Park as a big leaguer anytime soon. "Ben's job is to create a winning team and a winning organization," Skenes said. "So, what it looks like to him (is up to him)." Skenes added if the Pirates decided to make some sort of highly unusual move by trading one of the sport's brightest young stars, even though he remains under team control for the rest of the decade and isn't even eligible for arbitration until 2027, he wouldn't take it personally. "I don't expect it to happen," Skenes stressed. "(But Cherington) is going to look out for what's best for the Pirates. If he feels (trading me) is the right way to go, then he feels that's the right way to go. But you know, I have to pitch well, that's the bottom line." Skenes has been every bit the generational talent Pittsburgh hoped it was getting when it selected him with the top pick in the 2023 draft. The 6-foot-6 right-hander was a sensation from the moment he made his big-league debut last May and even as the team around him has scuffled — the Pirates tied a major-league record by going 26 straight games without scoring more than four runs, a streak that ended in a loss to the Brewers on Thursday — he has not. Five days after throwing the first complete game of his career in a 1-0 loss to Philadelphia, Skenes kept the Brewers in check over six innings, giving up just one run on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. When he induced Sal Frelick into a grounder to second to finish the sixth, many in the crowd of 24,646 rose to their feet to salute him as he sauntered his way back to the dugout. He exited with a 2-1 lead, then watched from afar the struggling bullpen let it slip away. The Pirates, in an all-too-rare occurrence, fought back, rallying to tie it in the ninth on Oneil Cruz's second home run, then winning it in the 10th when Adam Frazier raced home on a wild pitch. Afterward, music blared and Skenes — who hasn't won in a month despite having a 2.32 ERA across his five May starts — flashed a smile that was a mixture of happiness and relief. "It's nice to see us pull it out, which is something that we haven't done as much to this point in the year," he said. "Hopefully it's a good sign." The Pirates sure could use some. Skenes has been fully invested in the franchise since baseball commissioner Rob Manfred called his name in the amateur draft two years ago. He has embraced his role as one of baseball's first Gen Z stars and has become comfortable being the face of the franchise, even if that franchise hasn't won much of anything in 30-plus years. The challenge of trying to help make the Pirates truly matter is something Skenes has eagerly accepted. He's as invested in the city as he is in the team itself. Asked if the outside speculation that the club should move on from him so quickly is disrespectful to the effort he's made to be everything the Pirates have asked him to be, the former Air Force cadet shrugged. "I don't feel anything good or bad toward it," he said. Maybe because he realizes it's simply not worth the energy. It hasn't been the start to 2025 that anybody associated with the Pirates has wanted. Skenes believes there's been a "little bit more fight" since Don Kelly took over as manager. He believes that he's gaining more mastery over his ever-expanding arsenal. He believes he's developing chemistry with catcher Henry Davis. That's a lot for a veteran to handle, let alone someone who doesn't turn 23 until next week. It's why focusing on his long-term future — or what others are saying about it — is wasted energy. Skenes was asked about what it's been like to work with Davis, the top overall pick in the 2021 draft. His answer could have doubled for where Skenes finds himself in general as he tries to navigate the push-pull of stardom and all the trappings — both good and bad — that come with it. "Just really got to keep doing what we're doing," he said, "continue learning and let everything take care of itself, I guess." ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pirates ace Paul Skenes on the idea the last-place club should trade him: ‘Anybody can play GM'
Paul Skenes didn't hear Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington say that trading the reigning National League Rookie of the Year to give the last-place club an influx of much-needed position player talent is 'not at all part of the conversation.' When someone relayed Cherington's comments to him, the 22-year-old ace laughed. Advertisement 'It doesn't affect anything,' Skenes told The Associated Press late Friday night after the Pirates rallied for a 6-5, 10-inning win over Milwaukee. 'Anybody can play GM.' True, but it says something about where the Pirates are currently at — well out of playoff position before Memorial Day — that Cherington's uncharacteristically blunt answer made headlines anyway. Yet if Skenes, who celebrated his first anniversary in the majors two weeks ago, has learned anything during his rise to stardom over the last three years, it's that noise is not the same as news. 'There's no substance to just all that talk that you hear on social media and news outlets and stuff like that,' Skenes said. Advertisement It's one of the many reasons he makes it a point to try and block all the noise out. Yes, Skenes understands that baseball is a business — he said as much after manager Derek Shelton was fired on May 8 — but he also knows his business at this point in his career is focused entirely on throwing a baseball, not worrying about who he's throwing it for. There could very well be a time when Skenes moves on, either by Pittsburgh's choice or his own. That time, at least to Skenes, is not coming anytime soon. Pittsburgh is last in the major leagues in runs with 157, and no high-profile position player prospect is ready to walk into the home clubhouse at PNC Park as a big leaguer anytime soon. 'Ben's job is to create a winning team and a winning organization,' Skenes said. 'So, what it looks like to him (is up to him).' Advertisement Skenes added if the Pirates decided to make some sort of highly unusual move by trading one of the sport's brightest young stars, even though he remains under team control for the rest of the decade and isn't even eligible for arbitration until 2027, he wouldn't take it personally. 'I don't expect it to happen,' Skenes stressed. '(But Cherington) is going to look out for what's best for the Pirates. If he feels (trading me) is the right way to go, then he feels that's the right way to go. But you know, I have to pitch well, that's the bottom line.' Skenes has been every bit the generational talent Pittsburgh hoped it was getting when it selected him with the top pick in the 2023 draft. The 6-foot-6 right-hander was a sensation from the moment he made his big-league debut last May and even as the team around him has scuffled — the Pirates tied a major-league record by going 26 straight games without scoring more than four runs, a streak that ended in a loss to the Brewers on Thursday — he has not. Advertisement Five days after throwing the first complete game of his career in a 1-0 loss to Philadelphia, Skenes kept the Brewers in check over six innings, giving up just one run on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. When he induced Sal Frelick into a grounder to second to finish the sixth, many in the crowd of 24,646 rose to their feet to salute him as he sauntered his way back to the dugout. He exited with a 2-1 lead, then watched from afar the struggling bullpen let it slip away. The Pirates, in an all-too-rare occurrence, fought back, rallying to tie it in the ninth on Oneil Cruz's second home run, then winning it in the 10th when Adam Frazier raced home on a wild pitch. Afterward, music blared and Skenes — who hasn't won in a month despite having a 2.32 ERA across his five May starts — flashed a smile that was a mixture of happiness and relief. 'It's nice to see us pull it out, which is something that we haven't done as much to this point in the year,' he said. 'Hopefully it's a good sign.' Advertisement The Pirates sure could use some. Skenes has been fully invested in the franchise since baseball commissioner Rob Manfred called his name in the amateur draft two years ago. He has embraced his role as one of baseball's first Gen Z stars and has become comfortable being the face of the franchise, even if that franchise hasn't won much of anything in 30-plus years. The challenge of trying to help make the Pirates truly matter is something Skenes has eagerly accepted. He's as invested in the city as he is in the team itself. Asked if the outside speculation that the club should move on from him so quickly is disrespectful to the effort he's made to be everything the Pirates have asked him to be, the former Air Force cadet shrugged. Advertisement 'I don't feel anything good or bad toward it,' he said. Maybe because he realizes it's simply not worth the energy. It hasn't been the start to 2025 that anybody associated with the Pirates has wanted. Skenes believes there's been a 'little bit more fight' since Don Kelly took over as manager. He believes that he's gaining more mastery over his ever-expanding arsenal. He believes he's developing chemistry with catcher Henry Davis. That's a lot for a veteran to handle, let alone someone who doesn't turn 23 until next week. It's why focusing on his long-term future — or what others are saying about it — is wasted energy. Advertisement Skenes was asked about what it's been like to work with Davis, the top overall pick in the 2021 draft. His answer could have doubled for where Skenes finds himself in general as he tries to navigate the push-pull of stardom and all the trappings — both good and bad — that come with it. 'Just really got to keep doing what we're doing,' he said, 'continue learning and let everything take care of itself, I guess.' Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
