• FINAL: Canario strikes out to end the game. 9th K of the game for Pirates. Astros, 3-0
• Pham strikes out swinging on 3-2 pitch.
• Reynolds flies out to CF and Tommy Pham coming in to pinch-hit for Horwitz.
• Pirates will face lefty flamethrower Josh Hader in the ninth.
• Caratini pop up to Hayes to end the inning, last chance for the Pirates down 3-0.
• Diaz with a fly out to CF that Cruz has to chase down.
• That's gonna do it for Santana, Kelly goes to pen for Kyle Nicolas.
• Walker fly out to CF.
• Altuve hits the ball back to Santana, he misplays it for an error.
• RUN: Paredes hits his 12th HR of the season, 2-run shot on a 2-2 pitch over the LF wall. Astros, 3-0
• Pena with a slow roller to Gonzales to beat the throw for infield single.
• Pitching change, Dennis Santana into the game to relieve Skenes' brilliant 8 inning, 8 strikeout, 1 run performance.
• End of eighth inning: Cutch flyout to CF.
• Cruz is caught stealing as it appeared he slid over the bag.
• Cruz bounces into fielder's choice 6-4, close play at the bag to get IKF.
• IKF singles to leadoff the bottom of the eighth inning.
• Astros pitching change, Bryan Abreu (RHP)
• On his 99th pitch, Skenes gets Melton to ground out. That's 8 innings, 1 run, 3 hits... and no run support.
• Skenes starts the inning striking out Meyers and Smith.
• End of seventh inning: Hayes with a dribbler just beyond the pitcher's mound, Pena makes it look easy on his throw to first.
• Davis pops up to SS.
• While Davis is at-bat, Gonzales is thrown out trying to steal second base.
• Gonzales reaches on infield single the third baseman couldn't handle with barehand.
• A: 15,891
• Pitching change for Houston as Shawn Dubin comes into game to relieve McCullers.
• And now Skenes finishes it off with his 6th strike out on 85 pitches.
• Skenes strikes out Diaz.
• RUN: Walker opens the scoring in the 7th inning with a solo home run to left field. Astros, 1-0
End of sixth inning: Pirates are set down in order. Reynolds and Canario strike out swinging, and Horwitz retired 4-3.
• Have to give credit to the Pirates defense tonight, too. Making some big plays and, of course, the routine ones.
• Skenes with his fourth 1-2-3 inning of the night. Just sensational. He's retired eight in a row and is at 68 pitches through six innings.
• End of fifth inning: Cutch lines out to right-center.
• IKF swipes second. Runner in scoring position for Cutch.
• Cruz lets a 3-2 changeup go by on the inner third. Second strikeout of the night for him.
• One-out single to left for IKF. Six straight games with a hit.
• A third 1-2-3 inning of the night for Skenes, who is at 61 pitches over five innings. Very effective. Got Meyers to pop out in foul territory and struck out Smith looking to end the fifth.
• Cruz makes a catch near the wall in right-center to keep a hit away from Caratini.
• End of fourth inning: Davis strikes out on the seventh pitch of the at-bat to strand Gonzales.
• Gonzales reaches first base on the fielder's choice by Altuve to erase Canario at 2B.
• Canario follows the Horwitz fly out to LF with a solidly struck single to LF.
• Skenes cleans it up with an easy grounder to Hayes to get out Diaz.
• Walker strikes out on a check swing.
• Altuve steals 2B, Skenes doesn't see or hear teammates call it.
• Altuve with a weak grounder to beat the throw by IKF.
• End of third inning: Reynolds flies out to CF.
• Cutch drives one to the left-field wall for a long fly out.
• Skenes ends the inning by getting Pena to bounce into the 5-4-3 double-play.
• Melton avoids the strike call on a check swing, works a walk.
• Smith hits a weak comebacker to Gonzales, Meyers moves to 3B.
• Meyers leads off the inning with a double to the Clemente Wall.
• End of second inning: IKF grounds into a 5-4 fielder's choice.
• Two-out walk to Hayes puts two on for IKF.
• Davis reaches on catcher's interference.
• Canario goes down looking at a slider that just clips the bottom of the zone and Gonzales goes down on a 3-2 slider that appeared outside.
• Another clean inning for Skenes. Sitting at 22 pitches through two. Got Walker to fly out, picked up his first strikeout of Diaz and got Caratini to ground out 3-1. Really nice diving stop by Horwitz to complete the latter.
• End of first inning: Horwitz flies out to left. Cruz stranded at third.
• Reynolds gets ahead 3-0 before looking at two straight strikes on the outer third. He then grounds out to first, allowing Cruz to advance to third. Two outs.
• Paredes makes a nice play down the third-base line to retire McCutchen, but Cruz was on the move, so he advances to second with ease.
• Cruz reaches on a HBP to lead off the first.
• Skenes breezes through the first inning. Threw first-pitch strikes to all three batters he faced and needed just 11 pitches to get through it, as Pena flied out, Paredes grounded out and Altuve popped out.
• First pitch: Pirates vs. Astros, 6:42 p.m., Skenes to Pena, 81 degrees, sunny
• Joe Espada's starting nine:
1. Jeremy Pena, SS 2. Isaac Paredes, 3B 3. Jose Altuve, 2B 4. Christian Walker, 1B 5. Yainer Diaz, DH 6. Victor Caratini, C 7. Jake Meyers, CF 8. Cam Smith, RF 9. Jacob Melton, LF
• Don Kelly's lineup:
1. Oneil Cruz, CF 2. Andrew McCutchen, DH 3. Bryan Reynolds, RF 4. Spencer Horwitz, 1B 5. Alexander Canario, LF 6. Nick Gonzales, 2B 7. Henry Davis, C 8. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B 9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS
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THE ASYLUM
José Negron
6:06 pm - 06.02.2025North ShoreFinal: Astros 3, Pirates 0
• Who: Pirates (22-38) vs. Astros (32-27)
• What: MLB regular season, Game 61
• When: 6:40 p.m.
• Where: PNC Park
• Weather: 79°, sunny
• Pitchers: RHP Paul Skenes (4-5, 2.15 ERA) vs. RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (0-1, 5.89 ERA)
• TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
• Radio: Pirates Radio Network
• Streaming: SNP360, MLB.TV
• Satellite: SiriusXM 89/861/862
• Boxscore: MLB.com
• Media notes: Pirates | Astros
► FOLLOW ALONG
• FINAL: Canario strikes out to end the game. 9th K of the game for Pirates. Astros, 3-0
• Pham strikes out swinging on 3-2 pitch.
• Reynolds flies out to CF and Tommy Pham coming in to pinch-hit for Horwitz.
• Pirates will face lefty flamethrower Josh Hader in the ninth.
• Caratini pop up to Hayes to end the inning, last chance for the Pirates down 3-0.
• Diaz with a fly out to CF that Cruz has to chase down.
• That's gonna do it for Santana, Kelly goes to pen for Kyle Nicolas.
• Walker fly out to CF.
• Altuve hits the ball back to Santana, he misplays it for an error.
• RUN: Paredes hits his 12th HR of the season, 2-run shot on a 2-2 pitch over the LF wall. Astros, 3-0
• Pena with a slow roller to Gonzales to beat the throw for infield single.
• Pitching change, Dennis Santana into the game to relieve Skenes' brilliant 8 inning, 8 strikeout, 1 run performance.
• End of eighth inning: Cutch flyout to CF.
• Cruz is caught stealing as it appeared he slid over the bag.
• Cruz bounces into fielder's choice 6-4, close play at the bag to get IKF.
• IKF singles to leadoff the bottom of the eighth inning.
• Astros pitching change, Bryan Abreu (RHP)
• On his 99th pitch, Skenes gets Melton to ground out. That's 8 innings, 1 run, 3 hits... and no run support.
• Skenes starts the inning striking out Meyers and Smith.
• End of seventh inning: Hayes with a dribbler just beyond the pitcher's mound, Pena makes it look easy on his throw to first.
• Davis pops up to SS.
• While Davis is at-bat, Gonzales is thrown out trying to steal second base.
• Gonzales reaches on infield single the third baseman couldn't handle with barehand.
• A: 15,891
• Pitching change for Houston as Shawn Dubin comes into game to relieve McCullers.
• And now Skenes finishes it off with his 6th strike out on 85 pitches.
• Skenes strikes out Diaz.
• RUN: Walker opens the scoring in the 7th inning with a solo home run to left field. Astros, 1-0
End of sixth inning: Pirates are set down in order. Reynolds and Canario strike out swinging, and Horwitz retired 4-3.
• Have to give credit to the Pirates defense tonight, too. Making some big plays and, of course, the routine ones.
• Skenes with his fourth 1-2-3 inning of the night. Just sensational. He's retired eight in a row and is at 68 pitches through six innings.
• End of fifth inning: Cutch lines out to right-center.
• IKF swipes second. Runner in scoring position for Cutch.
• Cruz lets a 3-2 changeup go by on the inner third. Second strikeout of the night for him.
• One-out single to left for IKF. Six straight games with a hit.
• A third 1-2-3 inning of the night for Skenes, who is at 61 pitches over five innings. Very effective. Got Meyers to pop out in foul territory and struck out Smith looking to end the fifth.
• Cruz makes a catch near the wall in right-center to keep a hit away from Caratini.
• End of fourth inning: Davis strikes out on the seventh pitch of the at-bat to strand Gonzales.
• Gonzales reaches first base on the fielder's choice by Altuve to erase Canario at 2B.
• Canario follows the Horwitz fly out to LF with a solidly struck single to LF.
• Skenes cleans it up with an easy grounder to Hayes to get out Diaz.
• Walker strikes out on a check swing.
• Altuve steals 2B, Skenes doesn't see or hear teammates call it.
• Altuve with a weak grounder to beat the throw by IKF.
• End of third inning: Reynolds flies out to CF.
• Cutch drives one to the left-field wall for a long fly out.
• Skenes ends the inning by getting Pena to bounce into the 5-4-3 double-play.
• Melton avoids the strike call on a check swing, works a walk.
• Smith hits a weak comebacker to Gonzales, Meyers moves to 3B.
• Meyers leads off the inning with a double to the Clemente Wall.
• End of second inning: IKF grounds into a 5-4 fielder's choice.
• Two-out walk to Hayes puts two on for IKF.
• Davis reaches on catcher's interference.
• Canario goes down looking at a slider that just clips the bottom of the zone and Gonzales goes down on a 3-2 slider that appeared outside.
• Another clean inning for Skenes. Sitting at 22 pitches through two. Got Walker to fly out, picked up his first strikeout of Diaz and got Caratini to ground out 3-1. Really nice diving stop by Horwitz to complete the latter.
• End of first inning: Horwitz flies out to left. Cruz stranded at third.
• Reynolds gets ahead 3-0 before looking at two straight strikes on the outer third. He then grounds out to first, allowing Cruz to advance to third. Two outs.
• Paredes makes a nice play down the third-base line to retire McCutchen, but Cruz was on the move, so he advances to second with ease.
• Cruz reaches on a HBP to lead off the first.
• Skenes breezes through the first inning. Threw first-pitch strikes to all three batters he faced and needed just 11 pitches to get through it, as Pena flied out, Paredes grounded out and Altuve popped out.
• First pitch: Pirates vs. Astros, 6:42 p.m., Skenes to Pena, 81 degrees, sunny
• Joe Espada's starting nine:
1. Jeremy Pena, SS
2. Isaac Paredes, 3B
3. Jose Altuve, 2B
4. Christian Walker, 1B
5. Yainer Diaz, DH
6. Victor Caratini, C
7. Jake Meyers, CF
8. Cam Smith, RF
9. Jacob Melton, LF
• Don Kelly's lineup:
1. Oneil Cruz, CF
2. Andrew McCutchen, DH
3. Bryan Reynolds, RF
4. Spencer Horwitz, 1B
5. Alexander Canario, LF
6. Nick Gonzales, 2B
7. Henry Davis, C
8. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS
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