MITCH KELLER

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton handed Mitch Keller the opening day assignment and a celebratory bottle of bubbly.

Albert Pujols hit his 703rd home run, breaking a tie with Babe Ruth for second place in career RBIs, but the St. Louis Cardinals lost to Pittsburgh 3-2 when the Pirates drew four consecutive walks in the ninth inning to force home the winning run.

Albert Pujols has hit his 703rd home run, breaking a tie with Babe Ruth for second place in career RBIs.

Albert Pujols slammed his 702nd career home run and drove in three runs in the Cardinals' 7-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Aaron Judge disappointed fans by staying stuck at 60 homers but doubled twice and scored on Oswaldo Cabrera’s first-inning grand slam that started the New York Yankees to a 14-2 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On a Roberto Clemente Day particularly meaningful to both of them, Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco propelled the New York Mets past the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-1 to extend their slim lead in the NL East.

Albert Pujols hit his 697th home run, moving past Alex Rodriguez into fourth place on the career list and doing it in dramatic fashion with a ninth-inning drive that rallied the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3.

Albert Pujols hit his 696th home run, tying Alex Rodriguez for fourth place on the career list, and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied past the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5.

Pittsburgh infielder Rodolfo Castro lost his phone on the field and the Pirates were stymied by rookie Tommy Henry in a 6-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Nick Fortes and Miguel Rojas hit RBI singles in the 10th inning and the Miami Marlins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5.

Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks hit grand slams as the New York Yankees drilled the Pittsburgh Pirates 16-0.

Rookie outfielder Jack Suwinski hit his 14th home run and the Pittsburgh Pirates spoiled Jameson Taillon’s return to PNC Park with a 5-2 win over the New York Yankees.

Bryan Reynolds hit a career-high three homers and drove in six runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Washington Nationals 8-7.

Jack Suwinski hit his third homer of the game in the ninth inning, giving the Pittsburgh Pirates a 4-3, walk-off victory over the San Francisco Giants to avoid a three-game sweep.

Adam Duvall homered twice off José Quintana, William Contreras and Matt Olson also connected, and the Atlanta Braves won their 11th straight game, 5-3 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Miguel Cabrera hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning and the Detroit Tigers completed a two-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 3-1 victory.

Brandon Woodruff pitched hitless ball into the sixth inning, Rowdy Tellez homered for the second straight day and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 for a three-game sweep.

Nolan Arenado hit three doubles and a single, Paul DeJong homered and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2.

Adam Wainwright pitched six scoreless innings, Tyler O’Neill hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high five, and the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated Albert Pujols’ return with a 9-0 season-opening win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The hangover from being officially eliminated from the playoffs last week threatened to blunt the significant strides the Cincinnati Reds made in 2021. One big gut check by rookie pitcher Reiver Sanmartin and one last big swing from Joey Votto instead sent the Reds into the offseason with something akin to momentum. Sanmartin wriggled out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam with minimal damage in the first inning, Votto capped off a resurgent campaign by blasting his 36th home run and the Reds topped Pittsburgh 6-3 on Sunday.

Make it a very sweet 16 for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Kevin Newman tied a major league record with four doubles and the Pittsburgh Pirates rolled over the Milwaukee Brewers 14-4 to snap their eight-game losing streak in the first game of a doubleheader.

Luis Urías tied a major league record with five extra-base hits and Manny Piña drove in six runs, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 17-4 romp over the Chicago Cubs.

Six St. Louis relievers combined to allow three runs in seven innings, Paul DeJong and Lars Nootbaar homered, and the Cardinals hung on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6, completing a three-game sweep.

Phillip Evans kept Akil Baddoo’s drive to left field in the park in the seventh inning to help Pittsburgh escape a jam, and the Pirates scored twice in the eighth to beat the Detroit Tigers 4-2.

He was 2-1 with a 6.35 ERA in three spring starts, including allowing six earned runs against Cincinnati on Friday. Alec Bohm had two hits, including his fourth double. AdFreddie Freeman had two hits, including a double and his first homer — a two-run shot in the sixth. Victor Robles had three hits, including his sixth double, with an RBI, and Kyle Schwarber doubled and walked three times. Adalberto Mondesi singled and homered and Jorge Soler had two hits, including a double.

“We want to win the division.”Down 3-1 and held to one hit for eight innings, the Indians found more of the late-inning magic that has carried them this week. Delino DeShields — who broke up Pittsburgh's no-hit bid with a perfectly placed bunt single in the seventh — hit a one-out RBI single. Adam Plutko (2-2) picked up his first career win in relief for the Indians (34-25), who have clinched a playoff spot but want more. It's quite a turnaround for the Indians, who recently dropped eight straight from Sept. 8-16 and have been plagued with offensive inconsistency all season. Gregory Polanco hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning off Carrasco, but the Pirates couldn't hold on and dropped to 2-16 against AL Central teams.

Pittsburgh Pirates starter Mitch Keller was pulled after five innings despite not allowing a hit — and walking eight — against the Cleveland Indians on Friday night. The Indians, however, scored only once and then didn't capitalize in the third after Keller walked the bases full for the second time. Pirates manager Derek Shelton pulled Keller after 98 pitches — 49 were balls — and replaced him with reliever Nik Turley. Keller threw six no-hit innings in his previous start against St. Louis on Sept. 19 before leaving and has now thrown 11 straight hitless innings. Keller is the first NL pitcher with back-to-back no-hit outings of at least five innings since Johnny Vander Meer threw consecutive no-hitters in 1938, STATS said.

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)PITTSBURGH – Chad Kuhl pitched seven sharp innings and Colin Moran and Bryan Reynolds each homered in three-hit games in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 7-0 victory over the slumping Chicago Cubs on Thursday. Chicago’s magic number for clinching the NL Central remained two with three days left in the regular season. Chicago concludes its regular season this weekend with a three-game series at the crosstown White Sox, which begins Friday night. UP NEXTCubs: Visit the crosstown White Sox on Friday night to open a three-game series to end the regular season. Pirates: Start a three-game series against the Indians at Cleveland.

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Mike Clevinger delivers in the first inning in a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)A look at what's happening around the majors Wednesday:C YOU LATERCleveland is minus two of its top starting pitchers after putting Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac on the restricted list. The Indians had implemented a code of conduct for players to follow on road trips, forbidding them from socializing outside of the teams players and staff. MLB permits teams to use the restricted list for players who are unavailable to play for non-baseball reasons. AILING ARMSOpening day starter Joe Musgrove has become the sixth Pittsburgh pitcher put on the injured list this season.

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton (17) argues with home plate umpire Jordan Baker during the third inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, July 26, 2020, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)ST. LOUIS Pittsburgh's Derek Shelton staged baseball's first major, socially distanced umpire argument, then got his first victory as a big league manager as the Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 on Sunday. Keller (1-0) faced St. Louis for the first time in his career. Cardinals RHP Kodi Whitley also made his major league debut in a relief appearance in the top seventh. Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (4-2, 3.17 ERA, 24 saves in 2019) makes his first start for the Cardinals since July 30, 2018, Tuesday in Minnesota against the Twins to start a seven-game road trip.