First baseman Brad Eldred, one of the Pittsburgh Pirates' top hitting prospects, will be out indefinitely with an injured left thumb suffered while playing for the team's Triple-A Indianapolis affiliate. A team spokesman said Eldred will undergo surgery on Tuesday in Pittsburgh for a fracture and dislocation of the thumb, and that the Pirates would have a better idea of a timetable for Eldred's... |
Albert Pujols has a nice head start in his quest for a second straight MVP season. He gave the St. Louis Cardinals a nice head start on another victory. Pujols hit his major league-leading 12th home run in the first inning and Chris Carpenter beat the Pittsburgh Pirates for the sixth straight time in St. |
Taylor Buchholz was so happy about his first major league win that he quickly forgave the teammate who might have kept him from finishing a shutout. Buchholz came within one out of a one-hitter Saturday night in the Houston Astros' 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. There were two outs in the ninth when Chris Duffy reached on an error by second baseman Eric Bruntlett. |
Jason Bay hit a three-run homer in the first inning to get Pittsburgh off to an unaccustomed quick start and the Pirates withstood Albert Pujols' 10th homer in 14 games to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-4 Tuesday night. Jeromy Burnitz also homered and drove in three for the Pirates, who shook off an occasionally ragged start by Oliver Perez (1-2) to beat the Cardinals for only the 11th time in 32... |
Roy Oswalt is still thinking about the one that got away. Oswalt went seven innings, Morgan Ensberg and Craig Biggio homered, and the Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep. Oswalt, who has won 20 games in each of the last two seasons, improved to 4-0 for the first time in his career but afterward remembered his no-decision in his second start this... |
STATS Writer Barry Bonds can't avoid attention. Despite his early-season struggles and injury problems, Bonds can still draw a Dodger Stadium crowd. Another large crowd is expected to attend the deciding game of the three-game series between the rival San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers when the teams meet on Sunday night. |
Brad Hennessey, recalled from Triple-A Fresno to make the start, hurled 6 1/3 scoreless innings in the Giants' 2-0 victory over the Dodgers on Sunday night. |
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit went on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a strained left hamstring, and catcher Ronny Paulino was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis. The roster move was retroactive to April 12. Doumit, who hasn't played since April 11, started four of the Pirates' first six games before getting hurt and was hitting .200 with two homers and four RBIs. |
If a team wants to get its offense going, PNC Park is the place to go. Todd Walker hit a two-run homer in the first inning, Aramis Ramirez added a two-run shot and the Chicago Cubs finished another successful series in Pittsburgh by defeating the Pirates 7-3 Sunday. Derrek Lee hit a two-run double that chased starter Ian Snell (0-1) in a four-run sixth -- Lee's 43rd hit against the Pirates since... |
San Diego's Scott Linebrink says relief pitchers must have short memories. Still, he couldn't help but have a flashback Sunday. Only two days after taking his first loss in almost a year, Linebrink pitched out of jams in the seventh and eighth innings as the Padres beat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 to avoid a three-game sweep. |
Matt Holliday singled home the winning run with two outs in the 11th inning and Mike Piazza doubled twice, leading the Colorado Rockies over the San Diego Padres 3-2 Tuesday night. With the score 2-all, Todd Helton drew a one-out walk off Jon Adkins (0-1) in the 11th, and moved to second on Garrett Atkins flyout to left. Holliday singled to right for Colorado's sixth hit, and Helton beat Brian Giles' throw to the plate. David Cortes (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings for the win. |
Luis Gonzalez got his wish. Gonzalez became the 21st player with 300 home runs and 500 doubles on Tuesday night, hitting an RBI double off the wall in the sixth inning of Arizona's 7-4 win over the San Francisco Giants. The game was stopped while second base was replaced after the landmark hit and the Chase Field crowd rose to cheer Gonzalez. |
Barry Bonds' first major league manager believes the San Francisco slugger is being unfairly singled out for his alleged use of steroids. Jim Leyland, now in his first year as Tigers skipper, managed Bonds for seven years with the Pittsburgh Pirates before the slugger left as a free agent to join the San Francisco Giants for the 1993 season. |
Lance Niekro's right shin splints are still bothersome, and the Giants will check the first baseman's status in Phoenix in mid-week when he returns from three-day bereavement leave. |
For all the talk about mechanical adjustments, arm slots, pitch location and selection, it turned out Zach Duke needed to do only one thing to again be the pitcher he was last season. Throw strikes. Duke bounced back from the worst start of his short major league career to limit Chicago to a run over seven innings, and the Pirates beat the Cubs in Pittsburgh for the first time in exactly a year by... |
Jeff Francoeur is starting to resemble last season's rookie sensation. Francoeur homered for the second night in a row, hitting a two-out shot in the eighth inning that gave the Atlanta Braves a 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres on Friday. After starting the season with only two hits in 36 at-bats, Francoeur actually heard boos from the hometown fans who idolized him a year ago when he finished third in the NL rookie of the year voting after getting called up to the big leagues at midseason. |
