Latest news with #SpencerHorwitz
Reuters
2 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Fresh off recent success, Pirates ready to face struggling Giants
July 28 - The Pittsburgh Pirates get an opportunity to continue their run of spoiling other teams' postseason hopes when they open a three-game road series against the San Francisco Giants on Monday night. The Pirates, the last-place club in the National League Central, hit rock bottom last Sunday when they were beaten for the third time in a row at home by the team with the fewest wins in the American League, the Chicago White Sox. But with Tommy Pham going 9-for-20, Spencer Horwitz driving in seven runs and the bullpen coming up big to close out three shutout victories, Pittsburgh rebounded with three straight wins over the first-place Detroit Tigers before taking two of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks, one of the Giants' rivals in the NL playoff race. The Pirates are on such a nice run, at least one player has changed his mindset from possibly getting traded before Friday's deadline to who might join the team to fuel an even better finishing flurry. "It's something I have no control over," center fielder Oneil Cruz insisted in front of his locker after Sunday's win. "Whoever comes to help us win, it's welcome. We'll do our best to welcome him in a good way." One of the most popular Pirates in trade rumors will get another showcase opportunity when right-hander Mitch Keller (4-10, 3.53 ERA) takes the mound in the series opener in San Francisco. The 29-year-old stood at 1-9 with a 4.15 ERA on June 10 before finding a rhythm that has seen him go 3-1 with a 2.32 ERA in his last seven starts. He contributed to the Pirates' just-completed big week with six innings of three-run ball in an 8-5 win over the Tigers last Tuesday. Keller will be making his fifth career start against the Giants, against whom he has gone 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA in 22 innings over their first four head-to-heads. One day after splitting pitching chores among seven guys in a bullpen game, the Giants will promote Carson Whisenhunt from Triple-A Sacramento to oppose Keller in his big-league debut. The 24-year-old left-hander has started 18 games for Sacramento this season, going 8-5 with a 4.42 ERA, 28 walks and 86 strikeouts in 97 2/3 innings. The Giants would love to give their new teammate more support than their pitchers got in the three-game sweep to the New York Mets, when San Francisco totaled just five runs. The Giants did not get a hit in 23 at-bats with runners in scoring position in the series. With an eye on adding more firepower to the lineup, Giants manager Bob Melvin gave Rafael Devers two starts at first base against the Mets. That allowed Wilmer Flores, San Francisco's most productive hitter in the first half of the season, to get nine at-bats in the series -- eight as a DH, one as a pinch hitter -- during which he had three hits. But Devers had a nightmarish night in the field in Saturday's loss, one from which Melvin took a surprisingly optimistic view when asked by reporters to assess the performance after the game. "I'm glad he got a bunch of balls (in the game)," Melvin insisted. "The more he gets like that, the more in-between plays and plays where he's got to make a decision on whether he's covering first or going to get the ball ... all of those things are going to be good for him at the end of the day." The clubs will meet in a rematch next week in Pittsburgh, perhaps with some different personnel after the trade deadline. --Field Level Media
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pirates Preview: Bucs face snakes under Friday night lights
This article originally appeared on PGHBaseballNOW. The Pittsburgh Pirates had an off day on Thursday after completing a sweep over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday afternoon. Bailey Falter tossed a gem in the win, and Spencer Horwitz hit his first-career grand slam to lead the Pirates to a 6-1 win. The Pirates (42-61) will start their final series of a nine-game homestand against the Arizona Diamondbacks (50-53) on Friday night. Click here to read more on PGHBaseballNOW. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Hamilton Spectator
6 days ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Throwback Thursday: The Blue Jays and Tigers open a series with first place in the American League on the line
Turn the clock back almost 40 years: The Blue Jays are heading to Detroit with the best record in the American League on the line. The Jays and Tigers were fierce rivals in the 1980s and early 90s before Detroit moved to the AL Central in 1994 and, though they now play in different divisions, both teams are among the league's elite again. The Jays' 8-4 win over the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre Wednesday night moved them to 60-42, tied with the Houston Astros for the best record in the American League, half a game ahead of Detroit. The schedule-makers may have been kind to the Jays, with the Tigers in their biggest tailspin of the season right now. Former Blue Jay Spencer Horwitz belted a grand slam to help Pittsburgh to a 6-1 home win over Detroit on Wednesday, securing a series sweep for the last-place Pirates and handing the Tigers their ninth loss in 10 games. 'That's a real thing,' Jays manager John Schneider said of the Tigers' slump before Wednesday's series finale with the Yankees. 'But it can change in a day. I know that they have been what they have been, but it could change when they get home. You never really know.' PITTSBURGH (AP) — Spencer Horwitz hit his first career grand slam and Bailey Falter matched a The first four games of this Detroit slide came at home, then they hit the road after the all-star break for what wound up being a 1-5 trip through Texas and Pittsburgh, getting beat by two teams that had losing records when the Tigers arrived. But before the last fortnight, they were something else, which is one of the reasons they still have a nine-game lead in the American League Central. The other reason, of course, is the Central has only one other team that's over .500 - the 51-50 Cleveland Guardians. But you can't build a 59-34 record on smoke and mirrors. The Tigers did it by being strong pretty much everywhere. Before their slide began, Detroit's pitching staff was third in the major leagues with a 3.46 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, led by left-hander Tarik Skubal, who is currently on paternity leave but likely to pitch Saturday night against the Jays' Kevin Gausman. Skubal, who started last week's all-star game , won the Cy Young Award last year and has picked up right where he left off . The 28-year-old is 10-3 on the season and currently leads the majors with a 0.82 WHIP and the AL with a 2.19 ERA. The hitters, entering Wednesday, ranked sixth in the majors in OPS, home runs and runs scored, with 24-year-old outfielder Riley Greene leading the way. The left-handed swinger tops the team with 25 homers, 79 RBIs and an .855 OPS. He also leads the majors with 135 strikeouts. Greene was one of a half-dozen Tigers selected to the AL all-star team. The record was broken on a Loonie Dog night, where attendees can buy a hot dog for a dollar 'I think you've got to look at them as one of the better teams in baseball,' Gausman said in a conversation that can be heard on the July 24 episode of 'Deep Left Field,' the Star's baseball podcast. ' I don't think you pay too much attention to how they're playing lately because they've been so good all season.' The Jays lost two of three games when the Tigers came to Toronto in mid-May, outscored 9-8. Each game was decided by one run, with the Jays' win coming on a walk-off single by Ernie Clement in the bottom of the ninth inning of the middle game. With one-game tiebreakers no longer in use, the Jays need to win three of four in Detroit in order to clinch the season series with the Tigers — as they did with the Yankees on Wednesday — which could very well factor into home-field advantage in the playoffs, if not a first-round bye. The Tigers finished second to the division-winning Jays in 1991 and third in both 1985 and 1992, while the Jays finished second to Detroit in 1984 and the heartbreaking 1987. Finally, these 401 rivals are back at it again.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bailey Falter's Gem, Spencer Horwitz's First Career Slam Pushes Pirates to Sweep
This article originally appeared on Three days after hitting rock bottom with a home sweep at the hands of the pitiful Chicago White Sox, the Pittsburgh Pirates rebounded with a three game sweep of the American League-leading Detroit Tigers, winning 6-1 on Wednesday, July 23. Helping the Pirates (42-61) to victory, Spencer Horwitz provided his first career grand slam and Bailey Falter put together his longest start since the end of May, seven innings of one-run ball. Horwitz's blast, a 416 foot, 106.1 mile per hour missile to center, put Pittsburgh ahead 5-0 against Tigers rookie Troy Melton. While Detroit managed to sting Falter for one run in his seventh and final inning, they never came close to threatening the Pirates' lead. Carmen Mlodzinski closed the series out with two scoreless innings, fanning three batters in the process. Click here to read more from Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Spencer Horwitz hits 1st career grand slam as Pirates top Tigers 6-1 for series sweep
Spencer Horwitz hit his first career grand slam, and Bailey Falter matched a career-high with eight strikeouts to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-1 win and sweep of the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. Horwitz drove a two-out cutter from Troy Melton (0-1) 416 feet to centerfield to make it 5-0. Andrew McCutchen opened the scoring in the first with his ninth homer of the season. Bryan Reynolds led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Oneil Cruz in the third inning. Falter (7-5) gave up one run on four hits without issuing a walk in seven innings, going more than 5 1/3 for the first time since May 31. Lasting five innings in his major league debut, Melton allowed six runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. Matt Vierling provided Detroit's lone run with a single in the seventh that scored Spencer Torkelson. Key moment: After walking Joey Bart to load the bases with one out in the second, Melton had a way out of the jam when he struck out Isiah Kiner-Falefa on three pitches ahead of Horwitz. He started with a cutter in the dirt before coming back with another that Horwitz took deep. Key stat: The Tigers have lost nine of their last 10 games since July 9. Up next: Tigers: RHP Reese Olson (4-3 2.71 ERA) will start Thursday to open a four-game home series against Toronto. LHP Eric Lauer (5-2 2.80 ERA) will go for the Blue Jays. Pirates: RHP Mike Burrows (1-3 4.70 ERA) will take the mound Friday as Pittsburgh stays home for three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
