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Pirates in no mood to rush Skenes

By Will Graves The Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes is looking every bit the ace the Pittsburgh Pirates thought they were getting when they selected the hard-throwing right-hander with the first overall pick in last year’s draft. Just don’t expect Pirates general manager Ben Cherington to shift whatever internal timeline the club has on Skenes’ arrival in Pittsburgh. Yes, the 21-year-old has been electric at Triple-A Indianapolis, his fastball reaching triple digits with startling regularity. He was impressive again on Wednesday, allowing two runs (one earned) in ...

Falter + Cutch = Bucs’ win

By John Perrotto The Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Andrew McCutchen led off the bottom of the first with a home run for the second straight game, Bailey Falter took a shutout into the eighth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Tuesday night. McCutchen hit the first pitch of Tobias Myers’ major league career down the left-field line for his 24th career leadoff homer and his 100th long ball at PNC Park. McCutchen connected off Joe Ross on Monday night in the Pirates’ 4-2 win. McCutchen became the first Pirates player to hit a leadoff homer in ...

Bucs put an end to losing skid

The Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Oneil Cruz broke out of a slump with three hits, rookie Jared Jones allowed one run in six innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates ended their skid at six games, beating Milwaukee 4-2 on Monday night to stop the Brewers’ four-game win streak. Cruz capped a three-run sixth with a two-out, two-run single. He also singled in the second and dropped a double into right-center in the fourth. The 6-foot-7 shortstop was 4 for 44 in his previous 12 games. “You look at the base hit that Cruzy got, that ended up being the game-winning base hit, the ...

Pirates continue on slide

Bucs swept again The Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Wilyer Abreu had three hits and drove in two runs and the Boston Red Sox beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-1, on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep. Abreu’s RBI single off Martin Perez (1-1) in the third gave the Red Sox the lead for good. He added another RBI single in the sixth as Boston continued its strong play away from Fenway Park. Reese McGuire added a pinch-hit two-run single for the Red Sox, who improved to 10-3 on the road so far this season. Boston bounced back after a bumpy homestand by keeping the Pirates in ...

Reeling Bucs don’t have Skenes around to help

By Will Graves The Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Martin Perez knows what winning baseball looks like. The veteran left-handed pitcher has the World Series hardware to prove it. He knows what bad body language looks like too. And at the moment, the Pittsburgh Pirates are displaying far too much of it during a six-game slide that’s tempered some of the optimism that surrounded the club during a promising start. “We’re putting too much pressure on,” Perez said after a 6-1 loss to Boston on Sunday dropped Pittsburgh to 11-11. “We’re not getting the results that ...

Priester lit up by Sox

By Will Graves The Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Brayan Bello allowed one hit in six innings, Rob Refsnyder hit his first home run of the season and the Boston Red Sox breezed past the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates 8-1 on Friday night. Bello (3-1) struck out seven and walked two. The lone hit he surrendered was a leadoff double by Jack Suwinski in the bottom of the second. Bello retired the last 11 batters he faced as the Red Sox bounced back from a dismal homestand by handing the Pirates their fourth straight loss. “Went out there to compete every inning,” Bello said ...