Latest news with #DonKelly
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pirates' Mitch Keller ends 15-start winless streak
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller (23) hands the ball to manager Don Kelly (12) during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller, right, stands in the dugout with catcher Henry Davis, after being pulled in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller, right, stands in the dugout with catcher Henry Davis, after being pulled in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller (23) hands the ball to manager Don Kelly (12) during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller, right, stands in the dugout with catcher Henry Davis, after being pulled in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) PITTSBUURGH (AP) — Mitch Keller hadn't won a game since the early days of the season. 'It was just a great team win. That's what matters to me, team wins, and I was just glad to do my part," the 29-year-old right-hander said after leading the Pittsburgh Pirates over the New York Mets 9-1 on Friday night. "You only have so much control over individual wins, which is why I don't worry about them.' Advertisement Keller (2-10) allowed one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and a walk. He had been 0-10 with a 4.10 ERA in 15 starts since winning at Miami on March 28, the longest winless streak within a season in Pirates history. Pittsburgh hadn't scored more than four runs in any of Keller's previous starts. 'They were swinging early in the game but then I was able to start getting some quick outs,' Keller said. 'I started throwing more strikes and I think that was the difference.' Juan Soto homered in the fourth, his 20th this season. Keller was pulled at 91 pitches in the sixth inning with a 5-1 lead after walking Soto and allowing a single to Pete Alonso. Advertisement 'For Mitch, that was awesome,' Pirates manager Don Kelly said. 'He did what he's done consistently throughout this year. Pitched really, really well against a really good team. To score some runs for him felt really good, and to get him the win was great.' ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pirates' Mitch Keller ends 15-start winless streak
PITTSBUURGH (AP) — Mitch Keller hadn't won a game since the early days of the season. 'It was just a great team win. That's what matters to me, team wins, and I was just glad to do my part," the 29-year-old right-hander said after leading the Pittsburgh Pirates over the New York Mets 9-1 on Friday night. "You only have so much control over individual wins, which is why I don't worry about them.' Advertisement Keller (2-10) allowed one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and a walk. He had been 0-10 with a 4.10 ERA in 15 starts since winning at Miami on March 28, the longest winless streak within a season in Pirates history. Pittsburgh hadn't scored more than four runs in any of Keller's previous starts. 'They were swinging early in the game but then I was able to start getting some quick outs,' Keller said. 'I started throwing more strikes and I think that was the difference.' Juan Soto homered in the fourth, his 20th this season. Keller was pulled at 91 pitches in the sixth inning with a 5-1 lead after walking Soto and allowing a single to Pete Alonso. Advertisement 'For Mitch, that was awesome,' Pirates manager Don Kelly said. 'He did what he's done consistently throughout this year. Pitched really, really well against a really good team. To score some runs for him felt really good, and to get him the win was great.' ___ AP MLB: John Perrotto, The Associated Press
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pirates Make Oneil Cruz Move After Being Pulled From Brewers Game
Pirates Make Oneil Cruz Move After Being Pulled From Brewers Game originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz is playing in his fifth major league season for the team after his debut in 2021. The 26-year-old centerfielder burst on to the scene with his elite power and is responsible for the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast era at 122.9 mph. Advertisement He is under team control through the 2028 season, with 2026-28 serving as his arbitration years, so he will remain apart of the NL Central last place Pirates unless a trade materializes. The lowly Pirates have struggled this season, sitting at 32-49 with the league's worst offense—averaging just 3.3 runs per game—even with Cruz's efforts. Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz (15)© Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images In his final at-bat against the Milwaukee Brewers in the top of the seventh inning of Tuesday's 9-3 loss, Cruz grounded into a double play—and his lack of effort drew immediate attention. Interim manager Don Kelly confirmed he was pulled for a lack of energy and effort running to first, and declined to answer if Cruz would return to the lineup for Wednesday's game, per Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Noah Hiles. Advertisement In a noticeable shift, Cruz was moved down to fifth in the batting order, four spots lower than his leadoff role that he held throughout June—marking the first time all season he has started a game this low in the order. On Friday against the Texas Rangers in a 6-2 loss, Cruz misplayed a single in center field, allowing a run to score and drawing criticism for not hustling after the ball. However, he stayed in the game, finishing 0-5 with two strikeouts. Overall, in 20 games this June, Cruz is hitting just .156 with a .479 OPS, one home run and 31 strikeouts—a drastic dip in performance. Related: Astros Make Yordan Alvarez Announcement After 47 Missed Games Related: Cubs Legend Joe Maddon Reacts to Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Decision This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Pirates' Oneil Cruz gets taken out of game for baserunning blunder, admits he lost track of outs
Pittsburgh Pirates star Oneil Cruz has gone through a rough few games. Cruz's error and lackadaisical effort following a passed ball in center field raised eyebrows last week, and then, on Tuesday, he was removed from the game after he lost track of outs. Pirates manager Don Kelly took Cruz out after he failed to run out a double-play grounder against the Milwaukee Brewers. He grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Kelly said Cruz was removed because of "energy and effort going down the line." Cruz told reporters through an interpreter he understood the decision. "DK had all the rights to do what he did, and I'll back him up on that," Cruz said. "It was my fault because I thought there were two outs in that situation. That's why I let off running to first base." Kelly said he and Cruz spoke afterward, and he communicated his expectations. Cruz suffered an outfield blunder against the Texas Rangers. He misjudged a ball and watched it roll to the fence in the first inning of that game. On top of everything else, Cruz is not hitting like the slugger he has been promised to be. He has batted .156 with 31 strikeouts this month. Overall, he is hitting .211 with an OPS of .736 and 13 home runs. He is leading the National League with 26 stolen bases but leads MLB with 101 strikeouts. "He's struggling at the plate right now," Kelly said. "It's difficult when you're going through that and trying to figure it out. He's working hard to do that. That's one thing we've got to be mindful of, is not letting that offense carry over to defense and base running, and the energy and effort that we're giving on any other aspects of the game as well." Cruz maintained that his issue on the basepaths had nothing to do with his slump at the plate. "They're a really good example," Cruz said. "They always run hard. They always go out there to do their 100%. That's a teaching point for me. I accepted the way DK came to me and explained it and presented it to me." Pittsburgh fell to 32-48 this season after losing 9-3 to the Brewers. The Pirates are 20-22 since Kelly took over for Derek Shelton as manager. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
CBS News
3 days ago
- Sport
- CBS News
Pirates remove Cruz after he doesn't run out double-play grounder. He says he lost track of the outs
Pittsburgh's Oneil Cruz said he lost track of the outs when he didn't run out a double-play grounder, a move that led to his removal from the Pirates' 9-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. The Pirates trailed 7-3 and had a runner on first with one out in the seventh when Cruz grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Cruz slowed down after the Brewers got the force play at second, and he said afterward he believed that was the third out of the inning. Pirates manager Don Kelly removed Cruz in favor of a defensive replacement in the eighth inning and said it was due to Cruz's "energy and effort going down the line." Cruz said after the game he understood Kelly's decision. "DK had all the rights to do what he did, and I'll back him up on that," Cruz said through an interpreter. "It was my fault because I thought there were two outs in that situation. That's why I let off running to first base." Kelly said he explained to Cruz the reason for the benching. "We talked," Kelly said. "He knows the expectation. Right there, I feel we fell a little short." When he was asked whether Cruz would be back in the starting lineup Wednesday, Kelly was noncommittal. "We're going to sit down and talk, and we'll figure that out," Kelly said. Cruz, 26, has batted just .156 (12 of 77) with 31 strikeouts this month after having a productive start to the season that included owning a .911 OPS in early May and hitting a 122.9-mph homer against the Brewers on May 25. That homer was the hardest-hit ball since Statcast started tracking that data in 2015. Cruz is now hitting .208 with a .321 on-base percentage, .404 slugging percentage, 13 homers, 31 RBIs and 26 steals in 71 games. "He's struggling at the plate right now," Kelly said. "It's difficult when you're going through that and trying to figure it out. He's working hard to do that. That's one thing we've got to be mindful of, is not letting that offense carry over to defense and base running, and the energy and effort that we're giving on any other aspects of the game as well." Cruz said his hitting slump "had nothing to do with what happened today" and isn't impacting his focus on the basepaths or in the field. But he also said he appreciated Kelly's instructions to him and noted how he can learn from veteran teammates Andrew McCutchen and Tommy Pham. "They're a really good example," Cruz said. "They always run hard. They always go out there to do their 100%. That's a teaching point for me. I accepted the way DK came to me and explained it and presented it to me." ___ AP MLB:
