Pittsburg, PA
Pirates, Paul Skenes Taking Advantage Of Opportunities
On the heels of going 76-86 for a second straight year, what the Pittsburgh Pirates did to improve heading into the 2025 season was among their most pressing questions this offseason.
To date, there haven’t been many significant additions for Pittsburgh outside of trading to left-handed hitting first baseman Spencer Horwitz, but if you were to ask Pirates ace Paul Skenes, they may already have enough to take the next step. Skenes, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, believes the Pirates owe a turnaround and reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2015 not just to the fans, but people throughout the organization.
“I think we have a responsibility to the city to do that,” Skenes said. “And within the organization, too. There are a lot of people who put a lot of work into it. We’ve got really good people within this organization, within player development, within the front office, stuff like that. I think we owe it to them. You can say whatever you want about the acquisitions and all that, but we need to play better, too.”
Improving the offense, bullpen, and one-run games will be imperative to the Pirates’ success in 2025. Last season, Pittsburgh was 21st in runs per game and its bullpen had the fourth-highest ERA in baseball. The Pirates were also 25-26 in one-run ballgames.
All three of those areas were at the forefront of a collapse that saw Pittsburgh go 8-19, including a 10-game losing streak, and fall out of the playoff race. In August, Pittsburgh was 2-8 in one-run games and it was held to 3 runs or fewer in nine of its 19 losses.
Improving in such games is among the focal points for Skenes heading into the 2025 season, and he noted the Pirates’ struggles against teams that made the playoffs as part of why they weren’t able to get over the hump last season.
“I don’t know what the number of games was – that honestly might be something I look into over the course of the next month, going into spring training – we should have won [and] we didn’t,” Skenes said. “It was more than 10 last year, I know that. You look at the Dodgers, Tigers, Guardians, Yankees, Brewers – teams that were in the playoffs and we were watching from home because we pissed those games away. We’re going to have our opportunities to win, so we have to take advantage of it. It’s not a complicated thing. It’s simple, but it’s very difficult to do.”
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“Mayor of Kingstown” has wrapped up filming its fifth and final season in Pittsburgh.
Since the Paramount+ show began filming in western Pennsylvania in 2022, the Pittsburgh Film Office says it has injected over $325 million into the local economy and created over 10,000 jobs. In total, the show has had 457 shoot days in the Pittsburgh area.
“We look forward to seeing your work on the screen and thank you for several years of dedication to the region,” the Pittsburgh Film Office wrote in a Facebook post.
Production of the show’s fifth and final eight-episode season began in March. According to Paramount+, the new season follows what happens when an FBI agent described as a “dedicated lawman” arrives in Kingstown and “threatens to disrupt the tenuous balance of power.”
Jeremy Renner, who stars as Mike McLusky, marked the end of the show in an Instagram post, saying he was “filled with gratitude.”
“I am so very thankful for all of your support over the years—it has given my stride and purpose in my recovery and love in my heart,” Renner wrote. “Thank you cast and crew for carrying me through when necessary.”
Renner broke dozens of bones and underwent multiple surgeries after he was involved in an accident involving a 7-ton snowplow on New Year’s Day in 2023. He has said that returning to the set of “Mayor of Kingstown” for Season 3 helped him cope.
The release date for Season 5 hasn’t been announced yet.
Forgotten frontier: How Pittsburgh shaped America’s July 4th
We take you inside Fort Pitt Museum’s “Pittsburgh’s Revolution” exhibit to show how a frontier fort became a key in America’s path to independence.
Pittsburgh’s Fourth of July traditions are rooted in centuries of American history, and Fort Pitt Museum sits at the heart of that story.
Located in Point State Park at the confluence of the city’s three rivers, the museum traces western Pennsylvania’s pivotal role in the French and Indian War, the American Revolution and the early expansion of the United States.
An exhibit you don’t want to miss
Inside, the “Pittsburgh’s Revolution” exhibit spotlights how this frontier outpost helped shape the Revolutionary War and the push for independence. Rare artifacts, detailed maps and personal stories walk visitors through a time when control of Fort Pitt meant control of the West, giving colonists a crucial foothold in the struggle against British rule. The exhibit also emphasizes the diverse communities at the Point, including soldiers, Indigenous nations, traders and settlers, whose lives intersected in ways that still echo in Pittsburgh’s identity today.
For modern visitors, the museum offers an immersive experience that connects familiar July 4 images with the realities of life on the 18th‑century frontier. Families can explore galleries that explain how supplies moved through Pittsburgh to support the Continental Army, how diplomacy unfolded with Native nations, and how everyday people navigated a world in conflict. It turns Independence Day from a single date on the calendar into an ongoing story that started along these rivers and radiated outward.
As America marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Fort Pitt’s “Fourth at the Fort” programming brings that history into the present with flag ceremonies, living history encampments and hands‑on activities in Point State Park.
For Pittsburghers looking to go beyond fireworks, a visit to Fort Pitt Museum offers a reminder that Independence Day here is not only about celebration, but about standing on the ground where American history was made.
This article by Gabby Sartori was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more.
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