• FINAL: IKF grounds out to Pena to end this one. Astros, 8-2
• Horwitz pinch-hitting for Triolo strikes out for new season-high 16th for the team.
• 15th strikeout ties a season-high for the team, last time was on the road in Tampa.
• Davis strikes out looking. 1 out in the ninth.
• Pham walks to put two on, no outs.
• Hayes with a single to left as Melton was playing deep.
• Borucki retires Altuve to end the inning. That was Borucki's third straight appearance giving up a run. Last chance for the Pirates.
• RUN: Paredes hits a 2-run HR, second tonight, third of the series. Astros, 8-2.
• Melton strikes out, Dubon grounds out to Triolo at first base, and Pena reaches on the infield single as Hayes made a nice play near the third base bag to scoop and throw.
• Ryan Borucki will pitch the ninth.
• End of eighth inning: Gonzales strikes out for his third time, 14th for the team.
• Reynolds with his 3rd strikeout tonight, this one looking.
• Cutch strikes out for the 4th time tonight.
• Astros bring in Bryan Abreu to replace Framber Valdez. Good news after that devastating curve from Valdez.
• Nicolas back out for a quick eighth inning retiring Diaz on flyout to CF, Meyers 4-3 groundout, and Smith struck out.
• End of seventh inning: Cruz strikes out on a foul tip and that strands runners at second and third.
• An error by Walker allows IKF to reach safely on a single as he moves to second and Triolo moves to third for Cruz.
• After Pham strikes out and Davis flies out to left, Triolo draws a walk.
• A: 13,775
• Walker flies out to Gonzales.
• RUN: Altuve hits a sacrifice fly to right. Astros, 6-2
• Paredes walks. Runners on first and third for Altuve.
• Peña then steals third.
• That brings an end to Keller's night. His final line: 6.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Kyle Nicolas takes over.
• RUN: Peña doubles into the right center gap to score Melton. Astros, 5-2
• Dubón grounds out to second.
• Melton starts the seventh with a single into left.
• Valdez's curveball has drawn 20 swings and 14 misses tonight. 70% whiff rate.
• End of sixth inning: Gonzales and Hayes both ground out to third.
• Reynolds swings through a 2-2 curveball for his second K tonight.
• Smith pops out to IKF.
• Triolo fields a ground ball from Meyers and takes it himself.
• 6-3, Diaz.
• End of fifth inning: McCutchen strikes out for the third time tonight, stranding runners on first and third. Swung through a curveball on the outer edge.
• RUN: Cruz drives home Triolo for the second time tonight with a single into right. IKF moves to third. Astros, 4-2
• Triolo jumps on a first-pitch changeup and doubles down the left-field line.
• Peña flies out to right.
• Pham makes a nice catch at the wall. It probably would've fell short of a home run, but a nice catch nonetheless.
• Melton, 4-3. Gonzales charged that one to make a nice play at first.
• End of second inning: Pham goes for second and Davis freezes at the plate, watching a 2-2 sinker down the middle.
• Pham draws a four-pitch, two-out walk.
• Hayes flies out to left. Two away.
• Make that four Ks for Valdez as Gonzales goes down swinging.
• Keller records his third strikeout as he gets Smith to swing over an 0-2 sweeper.
• Meyers, 6-3
• Keller responds with a strikeout of his own. Gets Diaz to swing at a curveball out of the zone.
• End of first inning: Valdez sets the Pirates down in order with three strikeouts.
• Valdez strikes out McCutchen too as he swings over a curveball that breaks out of the zone.
• Cruz starts out the bottom half with a strikeout on three pitches. Swung right over an 0-2 curveball.
• Keller strikes out Walker and strands Peña at third. A nice 0-2 sweeper that broke out of the zone. Nothing to it.
• Altuve gets a loud reaction -- a mixutre of boos and cheers -- as he steps to the plate. It's followed by a flyout to left. Peña moves up on the play.
• Paredes pops out to IKF behind the mound.
• Peña starts this one with a double as Pham tries to make a sliding catch in left.
• First pitch: Pirates vs. Astros, Mitch Keller to Jeremy Peña, PNC Park, 10:02 p.m., 69 degrees, clear
• That "Play ball!" kid really brought the energy.
• 9:15 p.m.: Tonight's game will begin at approximately 10 p.m.
• The current scene:
• 9:06 p.m.: the QuickDry has made its way onto the field and staffers are starting to prep the infield.
• 9:03 p.m.: Staffers have taken the tarp off the infield for the moment. Still no official announcement as of yet.
• 8:55 p.m.: Everyone just walked off in their own directions, Kelly was the first to leave. He didn't seem thrilled.
• 8:54 p.m.: It's a grouping of 10 people now. Both managers, umpires, other officials.
• 8:45 p.m.: Don Kelly and Joe Espada are meeting with the umpires on the field right now.
• 8:39 p.m.: Bubba Chandler is currently pitching at PNC Park ... on the big screen.
• 8:33 p.m.: Staffers get a round of applause as they take stakes out of the tarp. Still lightly raining though.
• 8:17 p.m.: Still no update as of yet. It's raining lightly, the tarp is still on the field.
• 7:51 p.m.: Yea, it's raining now. Fans are heading for cover.
• 7:36 p.m.: There was just a quick flash of lightning followed by some thunder.
• No game updates as of yet. From looking at the radar, it seems there's a storm front passing through. So I'd assume we're waiting on that to pass.
• Let's have some fun during this rain delay. If you guys have any questions about anything, let's hear them. It doesn't have to be Pirates-related.
• Tonight's game will begin in a rain delay. The tarp has been placed on the field.
• We're about 28 minutes from first pitch and pre-game festivities have just started. Looks like there might be some showers between 7-9. So we'll see what happens.
• The tarp staff has disappeared and regular pre-game prep has started.
• We're over an hour and a half from first pitch and the tarp crew is standing by. They are literally sitting on the tarp. Could be a sign of things to come as there are slight storms on the radar. I'll keep you updated.
• Gonzaleshits cleanup for Don Kelly today:
1. Oneil Cruz, CF 2. Andrew McCutchen, DH 3. Bryan Reynolds, RF 4. Nick Gonzales, 2B 5. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B 6. Tommy Pham, LF 7. Henry Davis, C 8. Jared Triolo, 1B 9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS
• For Joe Espada’s visitors:
1. Jeremy Peña, SS 2. Isaac Paredes, 3B 3. Jose Altuve, DH 4. Christian Walker, 1B 5. Yainer Diaz, C 6. Jake Meyers, CF 7. Cam Smith, RF 8. Jacob Melton, LF 9. Mauricio Dubón, 2B
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
12:20 pm - 06.05.2025North ShoreFinal: Astros 8, Pirates 2
• Who: Pirates (23-39) vs. Astros (33-28)
• What: MLB regular season, Game 63
• When: 6:40 p.m.
• Where: PNC Park
• Weather: 78°, cloudy, 25% chance of rain
• Pitchers: RHP Mitch Keller (1-7, 3.73 ERA) vs. LHP Framber Valdez (5-4, 3.12 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: IKF grounds out to Pena to end this one. Astros, 8-2
• Horwitz pinch-hitting for Triolo strikes out for new season-high 16th for the team.
• 15th strikeout ties a season-high for the team, last time was on the road in Tampa.
• Davis strikes out looking. 1 out in the ninth.
• Pham walks to put two on, no outs.
• Hayes with a single to left as Melton was playing deep.
• Borucki retires Altuve to end the inning. That was Borucki's third straight appearance giving up a run. Last chance for the Pirates.
• RUN: Paredes hits a 2-run HR, second tonight, third of the series. Astros, 8-2.
• Melton strikes out, Dubon grounds out to Triolo at first base, and Pena reaches on the infield single as Hayes made a nice play near the third base bag to scoop and throw.
• Ryan Borucki will pitch the ninth.
• End of eighth inning: Gonzales strikes out for his third time, 14th for the team.
• Reynolds with his 3rd strikeout tonight, this one looking.
• Cutch strikes out for the 4th time tonight.
• Astros bring in Bryan Abreu to replace Framber Valdez. Good news after that devastating curve from Valdez.
• Nicolas back out for a quick eighth inning retiring Diaz on flyout to CF, Meyers 4-3 groundout, and Smith struck out.
• End of seventh inning: Cruz strikes out on a foul tip and that strands runners at second and third.
• An error by Walker allows IKF to reach safely on a single as he moves to second and Triolo moves to third for Cruz.
• After Pham strikes out and Davis flies out to left, Triolo draws a walk.
• A: 13,775
• Walker flies out to Gonzales.
• RUN: Altuve hits a sacrifice fly to right. Astros, 6-2
• Paredes walks. Runners on first and third for Altuve.
• Peña then steals third.
• That brings an end to Keller's night. His final line: 6.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Kyle Nicolas takes over.
• RUN: Peña doubles into the right center gap to score Melton. Astros, 5-2
• Dubón grounds out to second.
• Melton starts the seventh with a single into left.
• Valdez's curveball has drawn 20 swings and 14 misses tonight. 70% whiff rate.
• End of sixth inning: Gonzales and Hayes both ground out to third.
• Reynolds swings through a 2-2 curveball for his second K tonight.
• Smith pops out to IKF.
• Triolo fields a ground ball from Meyers and takes it himself.
• 6-3, Diaz.
• End of fifth inning: McCutchen strikes out for the third time tonight, stranding runners on first and third. Swung through a curveball on the outer edge.
• RUN: Cruz drives home Triolo for the second time tonight with a single into right. IKF moves to third. Astros, 4-2
• IKF follows it up with a single the other way.
• Triolo's 2 for 2 with a single into left.
• Pham grounds out to third. Davis hits a rocket back up the middle but Dubón is positioned perfectly behind the bag.
• Davis frames a strike three call on the outer edge to get Walker after Keller went down 3-1.
• Altuve lays down a nice bunt for a single.
• Wow. A true gold glove play by KBH there to rob Paredes of a hit.
• Peña grounds out to KBH for out No. 1.
• End of fourth inning: Hayes grounds out into a 6-4-3 double play.
• Gonzales strikes out on that curveball. Valdez has drawn 15 swings and 11 misses with it tonight.
• Reynolds draws a walk.
• Dubón flies out to right but not before the Astros put four on the board to take a three-run lead.
• Melton now steals second.
• RUNS: Melton's bloop single into left field scores two. Astros, 4-1
• RUN: Smith singles home Walker. Cruz tries to gun Meyers down at third but the throw is off line. Astros, 2-1
• Keller walks Meyers to put runners on first and second.
• Curveball and sweeper working really well for Keller tonight. He gets Diaz with a curveball out of the zone.
• Walker singles through the left side.
• Altuve, 5-3
• HOME RUN: Paredes ties it up with one swing of the bat. His 13th of the season. Tied, 1-1
• End of third inning: McCutchen strikes out for the second time tonight, but Keller gets a run of support from Cruz and Triolo.
• RUN: Triolo comes sprinting home as Cruz grounds out to Dubón right behind the mound. Pirates, 1-0
• 6-3, IKF. Triolo moves up on the play.
• Triolo jumps on a first-pitch changeup and doubles down the left-field line.
• Peña flies out to right.
• Pham makes a nice catch at the wall. It probably would've fell short of a home run, but a nice catch nonetheless.
• Melton, 4-3. Gonzales charged that one to make a nice play at first.
• End of second inning: Pham goes for second and Davis freezes at the plate, watching a 2-2 sinker down the middle.
• Pham draws a four-pitch, two-out walk.
• Hayes flies out to left. Two away.
• Make that four Ks for Valdez as Gonzales goes down swinging.
• Keller records his third strikeout as he gets Smith to swing over an 0-2 sweeper.
• Meyers, 6-3
• Keller responds with a strikeout of his own. Gets Diaz to swing at a curveball out of the zone.
• End of first inning: Valdez sets the Pirates down in order with three strikeouts.
• Valdez strikes out McCutchen too as he swings over a curveball that breaks out of the zone.
• Cruz starts out the bottom half with a strikeout on three pitches. Swung right over an 0-2 curveball.
• Keller strikes out Walker and strands Peña at third. A nice 0-2 sweeper that broke out of the zone. Nothing to it.
• Altuve gets a loud reaction -- a mixutre of boos and cheers -- as he steps to the plate. It's followed by a flyout to left. Peña moves up on the play.
• Paredes pops out to IKF behind the mound.
• Peña starts this one with a double as Pham tries to make a sliding catch in left.
• First pitch: Pirates vs. Astros, Mitch Keller to Jeremy Peña, PNC Park, 10:02 p.m., 69 degrees, clear
• That "Play ball!" kid really brought the energy.
• 9:15 p.m.: Tonight's game will begin at approximately 10 p.m.
• The current scene:
• 9:06 p.m.: the QuickDry has made its way onto the field and staffers are starting to prep the infield.
• 9:03 p.m.: Staffers have taken the tarp off the infield for the moment. Still no official announcement as of yet.
• 8:55 p.m.: Everyone just walked off in their own directions, Kelly was the first to leave. He didn't seem thrilled.
• 8:54 p.m.: It's a grouping of 10 people now. Both managers, umpires, other officials.
• 8:45 p.m.: Don Kelly and Joe Espada are meeting with the umpires on the field right now.
• 8:39 p.m.: Bubba Chandler is currently pitching at PNC Park ... on the big screen.
• 8:33 p.m.: Staffers get a round of applause as they take stakes out of the tarp. Still lightly raining though.
• 8:17 p.m.: Still no update as of yet. It's raining lightly, the tarp is still on the field.
• 7:51 p.m.: Yea, it's raining now. Fans are heading for cover.
• 7:36 p.m.: There was just a quick flash of lightning followed by some thunder.
• No game updates as of yet. From looking at the radar, it seems there's a storm front passing through. So I'd assume we're waiting on that to pass.
• Let's have some fun during this rain delay. If you guys have any questions about anything, let's hear them. It doesn't have to be Pirates-related.
• Tonight's game will begin in a rain delay. The tarp has been placed on the field.
• We're about 28 minutes from first pitch and pre-game festivities have just started. Looks like there might be some showers between 7-9. So we'll see what happens.
• The tarp staff has disappeared and regular pre-game prep has started.
• We're over an hour and a half from first pitch and the tarp crew is standing by. They are literally sitting on the tarp. Could be a sign of things to come as there are slight storms on the radar. I'll keep you updated.
• Gonzales hits cleanup for Don Kelly today:
1. Oneil Cruz, CF
2. Andrew McCutchen, DH
3. Bryan Reynolds, RF
4. Nick Gonzales, 2B
5. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
6. Tommy Pham, LF
7. Henry Davis, C
8. Jared Triolo, 1B
9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS
• For Joe Espada’s visitors:
1. Jeremy Peña, SS
2. Isaac Paredes, 3B
3. Jose Altuve, DH
4. Christian Walker, 1B
5. Yainer Diaz, C
6. Jake Meyers, CF
7. Cam Smith, RF
8. Jacob Melton, LF
9. Mauricio Dubón, 2B
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Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
We’d love to have you!