“Enjoy him, Pittsburgh, he’s yours!” That was super-excited Pirates radio play-by-play announcer Joe Block after rookie pitcher Paul Skenes struck out his 11th Cubs batter at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon. The Cubs batter was Michael Trauchman, who was the final man Skenes faced before being lifted after six hitless innings in Pittsburgh’s 9-3 victory…. read more

Lost in all the hoopla over the Major League debut of pitcher Paul Skenes on Saturday was the fact that the Pirates didn’t seem to have much else going for them. The Buccos went into Saturday’s game losers of 20 of their previous 28. Yes, they did get the win on Paul Skenes Day (just… read more

There is no party like a Pittsburgh Pirates party, at least that’s what pitching phenom Paul Skenes is likely thinking after making his much-anticipated MLB debut vs. the Cubs at PNC Park on Saturday afternoon. How anticipated was the debut for Skenes, the number-one overall pick in the 2023 amateur draft? Not only did he… read more

Is my headline a bit hyperbolic? I don’t think it is. Can you name a more anticipated debut for one of Pittsburgh’s professional athletes? I guess you can make a case for the NHL debut of Penguins center, Mario Lemieux, on October 11, 1984, against the Bruins at the old Boston Garden. Like Skenes, Lemieux… read more

The Pittsburgh Pirates have finally made the decision. They are calling up Paul Skenes to make his MLB debut on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs. The Pirates selected the big right-hander out of LSU with the first-overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. After much speculation about whether Skenes would make the Opening Day roster,… read more

Mitch Keller pitched his second-career complete game, as the Pirates defeated the Angeles, 4-1, at PNC Park on Monday evening. Keller threw 109 pitches–including 75 for strikes–and allowed five hits and one walk while striking out five Los Angeles batters on the night. It was the first complete game in almost exactly one year for… read more

The Pittsburgh Pirates rarely get to be the top sports story in Pittsburgh for even a summer. This is thanks to an almost unhealthy obsession with the Steelers, along with the Penguins winning five Stanley Cups since 1991. But 2024 could have been the exception. The Steelers have made a lot of exciting moves off… read more

There isn’t much more that can be said about the Colorado Rockies. For all intents and purposes, they are bad. Nothing is working for them as they have a 7-24 record and sit at the bottom of the National League standings. They were just swept by the Miami Marlins (who had a worse record than… read more

If you thought the Pirates would get well going up against a lame-duck (and rather lame) A’s team in Oakland, California, this week, think again. Pittsburgh was swept by the Athletics in a three-game series at the Oakland Coliseum. The Buccos have now lost 16 of their last 21 games. Included in that stretch is… read more

The Pirates had been going through some kind of funk prior to the start of a four-game series with the Brewers, beginning Monday evening at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was on a six-game losing streak–including back-to-back sweeps at the hands of the Mets and Red Sox–and had dropped nine of 11 after a 9-2… read more