PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates sent out one of their relief pitchers, who they had recently moved on from.

The Pirates announced that they traded right-handed relief pitcher Justin Lawrence to the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations on June 1.

Pittsburgh designated Lawrence for assignment on May 29, as they activated right-handed starting pitcher Jared Jones from the 60-day injured list, making room for Jones on both the 26-man roster and the 40-man roster.

The Twins decided that instead of waiting for Lawrence to go on waivers, they sent cash considerations to the Pirates to get him over another potential ball club.

Overlook at Justin Lawrence’s Tenure With the Pirates

Lawrence struggled for the Pirates this season, posting a 5.32 ERA over 22.0 innings pitched and 23 outings, a 0-2 record, 25 strikeouts to 12 walks, a .244 batting average allowed (BAA) and a 1.55 WHIP.

He had a solid campaign for the Pirates in 2025, aside from missing four months due to injury, with a 0.51 ERA over 17 appearances and 17.2 innings pitched, where he looked to get even better this year.

Lawrence struggled with his sinker and his fastball, with a .282 BAA and a 44.7% hard hit rate on his sinker and a .353 BAA and a 36.4% hard hit rate on his fastball.

His sweeper was also not effective as it was a season prior, as hitters did have 31.3% hard hit rate, but he still had effectiveness with it, amassing 18 of his 25 strikeouts on it.

Lawrence had a poor stretch from April 6-12, where he gave up eight runs and six earned runs over 3.2 innings pitched and four outings.

He pitched in two losses to the San Diego Padres at PNC Park, April 6 and 8, and played a role in the Chicago Cubs forcing the game into extra innings on April 11 at Wrigley Field, which the Pirates won, then gave up the tying run in the 7-6 loss to the Cubs on April 12.

Lawrence bounced back with seven straight scoreless outings, before giving up eight runs and four earned runs over four outings from May 8 to May 16.

His last outing came vs. the Cubs at PNC Park, a 10-4 loss on May 27, where he gave up two runs over two innings on a two-run home run to left fielder Ian Happ.

It ends a little more than a year between Lawrence originally joining the Pirates off of waivers from the Colorado Rockies and serves as a disappointing ending from a promising start for the reliever.

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Three Rocky Hill firefighters were honored Monday night for their part in a rescue on the Connecticut River in March.

Emergency crews responded to Ferry Park in Rocky Hill on March 23 in response to a report of a vehicle in the river.

When they arrived, they found a woman in a Jeep about 35 feet out from the riverbank.

Crews broke a window and pulled the woman to safety after about 10 minutes, according to fire officials.

The woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Monday evening, Captain William Kelly, Captain Roberto Leone, and Lt. Travis Gerace-Hicks were awarded the fire department’s valor award for their rescue efforts.

PORTLAND (WGME) – The wife of Democrat Graham Platner, who is running for U.S. Senate in Maine, is responding to stories in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times about sexually explicit text messages Platner allegedly sent to other women during their marriage.

CBS13 reached out to the Platner campaign for comment Monday but did not hear back.

According to multiple reports, Platner calls the stories “gossip.”

Amy Gertner, his wife of nearly three years, called the former staffer’s claims a “betrayal” and an “invasion of our privacy.”

Platner says the Wall Street Journal and New York Times ran stories without any evidence, based solely on gossip from a former staffer.

He says claims made by that staffer, former State Representative Genevieve McDonald, are untrue.

Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, says she trusted McDonald with the most private chapter of their lives.

“I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call,” Gertner said.

“The situation he’s in right now that’s most uncomfortable, I think, is that he and his wife seem to be telling different versions of the story,” USM Political Science Professor Ron Schmidt said.

Gertner defended her husband in a video she posted.

“I find it really shameful that there’s a group of media outlets, and people who are willing to spread gossip, instead of talking about real issues that Graham is running on like healthcare and education and childcare,” Gertner said.

The wife of Democrat Graham Platner, who is running for U.S. Senate in Maine, is responding to stories in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times about sexually explicit text messages Platner allegedly sent to other women during their marriage. (WGME)

She says being newly married while going through infertility and a Senate campaign is hard, but she says they are working on their marriage and mental health.

“I knew the man that I married had been through an immense amount of violent, active combat,” Gertner said. “No marriage is perfect, and I don’t want a perfect marriage. I want my marriage.”

“If this is a case of mistakes made early on in the marriage, and they’ve had marriage counseling, then the best thing to do is to say ‘I made a mistake. It was a while ago. It was related to something else, and it doesn’t have a bearing on where I am right now,’” Schmidt said.

A Platner supporter, who attended Sunday’s town hall meeting with the candidate, says the focus needs to be on policy, not personal matters.

“I think people should really continue to engage with Platner and the campaign around affordable housing, universal healthcare and issues that really matter to us,” Auburn Community Organizer Safiya Khalid said.

The wife of Democrat Graham Platner, who is running for U.S. Senate in Maine, is responding to stories in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times about sexually explicit text messages Platner allegedly sent to other women during their marriage. (WGME)

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“Graham and I have a great marriage,” Gertner said. “And we love each other deeply. We deserve better. I think Mainers deserve better.”

Platner has apologized for other controversies like now-deleted Reddit posts calling himself a communist and blaming victims of rape, and a nazi-symbol skull tattoo his military unit got that he’s since covered up.

Through it all, he’s still leading in the polls.

Schmidt says Democratic voters like what Platner stands for, but he says the controversies are certainly a concern, especially with Senator Susan Collins, in his view, doing a good job distancing herself from President Donald Trump.