Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Luis Ortiz pitched seven shutout innings, Oneil Cruz had a home run and three RBIs, and the Pittsburgh Pirates stretched their winning streak to six games with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.

Ortiz (5-2), who had not gone more than six innings this season, gave up three hits and two walks with two strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.57.

“Obviously, it feels good to go out there and throw seven scoreless, but it’s just an inning-by-inning thing that I’ve prepared my mind for,” Ortiz said. “To go out there every inning, first pitch to be aggressive and attack the strike zone. The results are there.”

Andrew McCutchen led off the sixth inning by hitting a 3-1 sinker from Cristopher Sánchez (7-5) 431 feet into the bullpen in left-center field. Nick Gonzales, who hit the winning RBI single in the ninth inning of an 8-7 win Friday night, got on with a two-out single and scored on Cruz’s double off the wall in right.

“I didn’t even know we had six (straight) wins but I think it’s just the way our mentality is,” McCutchen said. “Just show up, try to win today. Obviously, with the pitching we’ve been able to have, our starters have been going out and we’ve been able to get some timely hitting when we’ve needed, even if our starters aren’t able to be able to shut them out like Ortiz did today.

“The timely hitting, guys staying within themselves, it’s just all-around good baseball. When you play good baseball, you win games. It’s what we’re doing right now.”

Cruz hit a two-out, two-run home run 422 feet off a fastball from Matt Strahm to make it 4-0 in the eighth. He also had three RBIs on Friday.

“This kid likes the lights. I think we’ve seen that the last two nights,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. “He’s stepped his game up a little bit. And he’s healthy now, which before the break, he wasn’t healthy. It’s been very much needed, and it’s fun to watch.”

Bryce Harper hit his 22nd homer off Pirates closer David Bednar with one out in the ninth.

Sánchez was pulled after allowing two runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings for the Phillies, who have lost three games in a row and four of their last five.

“That happens,” Sánchez said. “That’s just part of the game. You just have to make the right adjustments and keep it going.”

Gonzales came close to putting Pittsburgh ahead in the first inning, driving a liner to center that would have scored Bryan Reynolds from second. But Johan Rojas made a diving catch, going forward and stretching to his left to keep it from slipping into the gap.

“They’re good,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of the Pirates. “I mean, they’re talented. They’ve got good starting pitching. They’ve got thump in the middle of their lineup. They’ve got a good bullpen, especially the back end. They’re a good club.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: C J.T. Realmuto, who had right knee meniscectomy surgery on June 12, was reinstated from the 10-day injured list. He was 1 for 3 with a walk. … LHP Ranger Suárez (low back spasms) and RHP Zack Wheeler (back tightness) will return for Philadelphia’s next series at the Minnesota Twins. Suárez will start Monday and Wheeler will take the mound Tuesday.

UP NEXT

LHP Marco Gonzales (1-0, 2.45 ERA) will take the mound as the Pirates go for the three-game sweep Sunday, opposite Phillies RHP Tyler Phillips (1-0, 4.50).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers were believed to be one of the only teams interested in making a blockbuster trade with the San Francisco 49ers for All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. But according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the competition is a little larger than expected.

Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show, Florio gave some insight to how things went down for the 49ers during the 2024 NFL Draft. The Steelers were reportedly ready to make a trade for Aiyuk happen, but weren’t able to finalize anything before the end of the draft. However, while they may have been the front runners, they weren’t the only team looking to make a trade.

“There was a time before the draft as they were haggling over what he is worth. His agent was given permission to see if other teams would pay him what he was looking for,” Florios said. “At the time it was $28 million per year. It’s probably higher now because the market’s changed. I’m told there were five teams ready to go and give him what he wanted…but they couldn’t work out a deal with the 49ers for a trade.”

Whether or not there are still five teams interested is unknown.

Aiyuk’s deal at the time was likely lower than it is now because of the massive extension Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson signed. So, if the Steelers are still interested, which reports claim they are, then they’re likely paying over $30 million per year for the 26-year-old.

If the Steelers are not able to land Aiyuk, the team has also been linked Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams, who could be on their radar as an alternative route this offseason.

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35 homeruns in his college career

BREVARD COUNTY • MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA – Former Merritt Island Mustang and Florida Gulf Coast University senior outfielder Ian Farrow was selected in the 14th round, 414th overall, in the 2024 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Farrow was an ASUN Second Team honoree in 2022, First Team All-ASUN designated hitter after leading Florida Gulf Coast in batting average (.375), and was second overall in homer runs with 15 during the 2024 campaign despite missing nine games due to an upper-body injury.

The Space Coast native was also named ABCA First Team All-Region and earned Second Team All-America status.

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