Blogs

• Virgil Vasquez still is listed as the starter for Tuesday’s game as new Pirate Kevin Hart, acquired from the Cubs, pitched on Thursday and wouldn’t be available. Hart will take Vasquez’s spot in the rotation, but it is uncertain when he will make his first start, manager John Russell said. Hart, who will wear [...]

Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson was traded. Here is the new Nationals lineup. 1. Morgan cf, 2. Guzman ss, 3. Zimmerman 3b, 4. Dunn 1b, 5. Willingham rf, 6. Harris lf, 7. Bard c, 8. Gonzalez 2b, 9. LHP Lannan

Lastings Milledge will make his Pirates debut tonight against his former team, the Washington Nationals.
Milledge, called up from Triple-A Indianapolis, will start in left field and bat second.
Ronny Cedeno will start at shortstop in his first game with the Pirates since being acquired from Seattle in the Jack Wilson trade.
Here are the starting lineups, in [...]

SAN FRANCISCO — Ian Snell did not badmouth the Pirates on his way out the door.
“The Pirates gave me my first opportunity, so I have nothing bad to say about them,” Snell said. “I had issues with (general manager) Neal Huntington and some others. But we talked about our issues and we got over them.”
Snell’s [...]

SAN FRANCISCO — “This is a sad day for me,” Jack Wilson said a few minutes ago, as he packed his gear and got ready to leave the Pirates’ clubhouse for the final time.
Wilson and right-hander Ian Snell today were traded to the Seattle Mariners for first baseman/catcher Jeff Clement, shortstop Ronny Cedeno, and right-handers [...]

SAN FRANCISCO — Here is a (no-so-fun) fact about Freddy Sanchez: if he is traded Wednesday (as I’m coming to believe he will be), Sanchez will end his Pirates career with a 0-for-20 tailspin at the plate. Kind of ironic, considering the guy is the last Pirate to win the NL batting title. Sanchez’s last [...]

SAN FRANCISCO — Double-A Altoona second baseman Jim Negrych was injured Monday night in a collision with shortstop Brian Friday. According to the Curve, Negrych had a hematoma, which required surgery Tuesday morning. The operation was successful, but the Pirates do not have a timetable for when or if Negrych will be able to play [...]

SAN FRANCISCO — Neither second baseman Freddy Sanchez nor shortstop Jack Wilson is in the lineup tonight, but it does not appear any trade is imminent.
The Giants, in the thick of the wild-card chase, are keenly interested in Sanchez. However, manager John Russell said Sanchez’s gimpy left knee will keep him out of the lineup [...]

SAN FRANCISCO — Neither Freddy Sanchez nor Jack Wilson is in the lineup tonight. Hmmm …
• The Pirates signed their fifth-round draft pick, left-hander Nathan Baker. He went 4-3 with one save and a 3.63 ERA this year as a junior at the University of Mississippi. The amount of Baker’s signing bonus was not immediately [...]

SAN FRANCISCO — It’s about 94 hours until the trading deadline, and everyone’s still here who was here yesterday. This morning, as I waited at Sky Harbor Airport to board my flight to California, I briefly chatted by phone with team prez Frank Coonelly. I asked if the team might re-open contract extension talks with [...]