The Pittsburgh Pirates hired Brent Strom to be their assistant pitching coach, as reported by Noah Hiles of the Post-Gazette. Strom is a highly regarded pitching coach, who has spent time with Houston and Arizona over...
The Pittsburgh Pirates have hired Matt Hague to be their next hitting coach, according to Scott Mitchell of CSN. Hague was the assistant hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2024, after three years as...
Catching up with Pirates' players and friends in the winter league playoffs on Saturday:
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
Indios de Mayaguez 8, Criollos de Caguas 4 --...
A few Pirates' players and friends got into Wednesday's winter league playoff games:
DOMINICAN LEAGUE
Aguilas Cibaenas 7, Gigantes del Cibao 1
Los Aguilas got all the...
Saturday's action with the Pirates' players and friends:
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Tigres de Aragua 5, Caribes de Anzoategui 2
Two doubles by 1B Hector Gimenez accounted for 3...
Pirates' players and friends in Wednesday's winter league action:
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
Criollos de Caguas 6, Leones de Ponce 2
SS Benji Gonzalez doubled with two out...
Checking in on Pirates' players and friends in Tuesday's winter league action:
DOMINICAN LEAGUE
Leones del Escogido 3, Estrellas de Oriente 2
CF Starling Marte led off...
Checking in on Pirates' players and friends in Tuesday's winter league action:
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
Criollos de Caguas 9, Leones de Ponce 5
Los Criollos scored 7...
After Monday off, the Winter Leagues are back in action, including some Pirates' players and friends
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
Leones de Ponce 9, Criollos de Caguas ...
Winter league action for the Pirates' players and friends on Saturday night (or Sunday afternoon, for the Aussies)
MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE
Mayos de Navojoa 2, Venados...
Checking in with some Pirates' players and friends in winter league play.
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Cardenales de Lara 4, Caribes de Anzoategui 3
Los Caribes had a 3-2...
The Caribbean Series wrapped up on Monday, as Mexico (Los Yaquis de Obregon) won the championship with a 4-2 record. Venezuela (Caribes de Anzoategui) finished last, with a 2-4 record. Both the Dominican team (Toros del Este) and the Puerto Rican team (Criollos de Caguas) finished tied for second place with 3-3 records.
Mexico 3, Venezuela 2 -- Very compact scoring in this game. Venezuela scored first, with a 2-run homer in the 4th. They rallied again in the 5th, and tried to score on a passed ball, but the runner from third was tagged out in a run-down. Mexico had only 2 hits over the first 5 innings, but came through in the 6th with a double and a single. One run scored on a ground out, and a 2-run homer gave them all the runs they needed. Mexico loaded the bases in the 7th with a walk and two singles, but a ground out ended the inning without further runs scoring.
Dominican Republic 3, Puerto Rico 0 -- Dean Treanor's Dominican team finished the series with a win. They scored 2 runs in the 4th inning. With two outs, a single and a fielding error by Puerto Rican SS Luis Figueroa put two Dominican runners on base. A triple by LF Alejandro De Aza drove both runners in. De Aza began another rally in the 7th with a single up the middle. A bunt moved him to second, and he advanced to third on a ground out, then scored on an RBI single. The Dominicans posted just 6 hits in the game, and they also collected 3 walks. Two Dominican pitchers held Puerto Rico to just 4 hits. Starter Raul Valdes pitched 7.2 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits and one walk, with 6 strikeouts. He retired 13 straight batters over the middle innings. Reliever Julio Manon earned a save, retiring all 4 batters he faced. Puerto Rico's best chance came in the 8th, when Valdes gave up a single, had Figueroa reach on a throwing error, and then hit a batter to load the bases. The bases were left loaded though, thanks to Manon.
