The Brewers were rained out last night! I hope you’ll forgive that instead of rewriting an entire new game discussion, I’m just going to (mostly) copy and paste what I wrote before yesterday’s game, because both teams are using the same lineups they announced last night.
Pittsburg, PA
Regional Transit updating and simplifying how riders pay – Pittsburgh Union Progress
Pittsburgh Regional Transit is starting a two-year process to update and simplify its fare payment system.
Over the next two years, most transit riders will have to change their ConnectCard for a new card. That new card will work with all aspects of a rider’s transit account, including vending machines and mobile payment scanners on transit vehicles.
Jeffrey Devlin, the agency’s chief innovation officer, outlined how the new system will work for the authority board’s technology committee Thursday. Essentially, the new system will take advantage of the flexibility of the Masabi Ready2Ride validators that handle the pay-by-phone app that debuted in August 2021.
The first step in the process will be replacing 76 fare vending machines located at prominent bus and light rail stations. The committee recommended the full board approve an $8.85 million contract with Parkeon Inc. for its Flowbird system when it meets next week, but committee chairwoman Jennifer Liptak said there will be additional contracts in the near future.
“This is the first step in a very long process,” Liptak said.
Other parts of the project will involve replacing ConnectCards, which should begin by the end of the year, and installing new cash-only fare boxes on 720 buses and 80 light rail trains. The agency promises a “robust” advertising campaign to make sure riders know about the changes.
CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman said the agency will see what it can do to keep senior citizens from having to replace their free-ride cards.
Devlin said the current fare boxes are more than 14 years old and “have reached the end of their useful life.” The system also uses proprietary technology, so PRT couldn’t add equipment from another company and often had to wait behind other customers for updates.
Changing fare boxes and issuing new versions of the ConnectCard will allow the agency to use the flexibility of the Masabi system.
“We’re now ready to expand the Masabi system and use it to its full advantage,” Devlin said. “It’s not a fast change.”
Devlin didn’t have an expected cost for the entire project, but he said the new vending machines are expected to be the most expensive element.
Riders should see a series of benefits from the changes.
Now, for example, riders who have a ConnectCard and also use the mobile payment app have two separate transit accounts. Also, the ConnectCard system often takes a couple of days to add money to a rider’s account.
Cards with the Masabi system add money to the account instantly and can be used with new vending machines, third-party vendors such as convenience stores that sell transit products and to pay fares. Riders won’t need a second account.
The new system also will make it easier for the agency to implement fare capping for cash riders in the future. Right now, riders who pay in cash have to pay two full fares if they need to transfer to another transit vehicle to reach their destination while riders who use ConnectCards or the mobile app can transfer for free within three hours.
Laura Wiens, executive director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit, said her agency would be happy with it changes. PPT has been pushing for fare capping for several years.
“We’re supportive of that,” she said. “The current system hasn’t been able to provide the fare products we need.”
Devlin said the vending machines are the first step because it could take as long as a year to have them built and delivered.
“It’s a long rollout, but we think it will be beneficial to a lot of people,” Kelleman said. “The goal at the end is to make it as easy as possible for riders to use our system.”
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he’s currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.
A motorcyclist has died following a crash in North Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County.
Charles McCutcheon, 59, of Jeannette, was traveling west on Lincoln Highway when his motorcycle collided with a Kia sedan traveling east and attempting to turn into a local business, according to a public information report from Westmoreland County Coroner John Ackerman.
The crash, reported around 11:30 a.m. Saturday at 12259 Lincoln Highway, was described as a head-on collision. McCutcheon was pronounced dead approximately one hour later.
McCutcheon’s cause and manner of death are pending toxicology results, the coroner’s office said.
North Huntingdon Township police were handling the investigation.
Pittsburg, PA
Game Discussion (Let’s Try This Again): Milwaukee Brewers (59-34) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (47-47)
However, there are two new pieces of information today. The first is minor, and that’s that Garrett Stallings has been spotted in Pittsburgh and is presumably the 27th man for today’s doubleheader (he should be available in the nightcap). The second is more troubling: Kyle Harrison has been placed on the 15-day injured list with forearm tightness, with Robert Gasser getting recalled to replace him on the roster.
Harrison himself has reiterated what he said a couple of days ago: that he’s not too worried. Plus, a 15-day stint on the IL right now isn’t the worst thing in the world — 15 days from July 9 means he could be eligible to return after missing only six games on the other side of the All-Star break, and he wasn’t going to pitch this weekend anyway. It sounds like the Brewers already had some sort of plan in this respect:
Hopefully, this is just a precautionary short stint for Harrison. The Brewers have proved remarkably flexible when it comes to replacing their injured starters this season, but if Harrison is lost for a longer period, it would be a real blow.
In any case, today’s game starts at 11:05 a.m., and we’ll see you for some morning baseball! The rest of the preview, as written last night, is below.
It’s the start of the last series before the All-Star break (weather permitting) and the Brewers are in Pittsburgh to wrap things up with a three-game set with the Pirates. Brandon Sproat takes the mound for the Brewers, while first-time All-Star Braxton Ashcraft will pitch for the Pirates.
Before we get to tonight’s starters, we’ve got a transaction to tell you about. Since time is, as they say, a flat circle, the Brewers have signed Bryse Wilson to a major league deal. To make room for him, they’ve sent Drew Rom to Triple-A Nashville and they’ve designated Easton McGee for assignment.
Wilson pitched for the Brewers in 2023 and 2024, serving mostly as a long-relief, semi-mop-up option. In 2023 he had quite a nice year: in 53 outings, Wilson pitched to a 2.58 ERA and went 6-0. He struggled more in 2024, but he pitched over 100 innings in a swingman role and was slightly above league average via ERA+. However, in both seasons, Wilson vastly outperformed his peripheral numbers, and since leaving the Brewers, things have been a struggle. He made 20 appearances for the White Sox in 2025 and had a 6.65 ERA in 47 1/3 innings; in three big-league appearances in 2026 (two with the Cubs, one with the Phillies), he’s allowed seven runs, all earned, in 9 2/3 innings. Wilson’s role with the Brewers, for however long it lasts (likely not long), will surely be similar to what it was when he last pitched for them in 2024: mop-up duty. (For those who are optimists, Wilson is generally good at not walking guys, but he doesn’t really strike them out, either, and over the last couple of seasons he has been eminently hittable, with about 12.5 hits per nine innings.)
Back to tonight’s action. Sproat will look to get into the break on a high note. Sproat’s last outing was a mixture of good and bad: he was not pitching well, needed 92 pitches, and allowed eight baserunners to get through just four innings pitched. But the good news is that he was mostly able to work his way out of trouble, too, and he somehow allowed just one run in those four innings, a game which Milwaukee eventually won 3-2 against the Diamondbacks. It was an encouraging sign of maturation that he didn’t just implode when things weren’t going well. Since the beginning of June, Sproat has a very solid 3.30 ERA in 30 innings pitched, and the team is 5-1 in his starts, a stark contrast to his 6.24 ERA and 5-6 team record prior to last month.
Ashcraft has been quite good for Pittsburgh, as evidenced by his status as an All-Star injury replacement. He’s just 26 and in his second season, and he’s done nothing but pitch well since his debut in late May of last season. This year, Ashcraft is 9-3 with a 3.24 ERA (134 ERA+) and even better 3.16 FIP. He’s got sterling peripherals (10.1 K/9, 2.1 BB/9) and is a hard thrower who plays a curveball and sinker off a four-seamer that sits around 97 mph. The curveball, especially, is one of the better ones in the league.
The Brewers continue to rotate through their position players as they reach the end of this 18-games-in-17-days stretch. Christian Yelich is back in the leadoff spot, while the outfield goes Luis Lara, Garrett Mitchell, and Sal Frelick from left to right. William Contreras is behind the plate, while the infield is Joey Ortiz, Cooper Pratt, Brice Turang, and Jake Bauers.
After last night’s rainout, first pitch has been scheduled for 11:05 a.m. CT, with game two coming either at 3:05 p.m. or one hour after the end of game one, if that’s later than 3:05.
An oversized poster board tracks the deep cleaning happening across Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington neighborhood. All of the yellow highlights denote the streets already adopted.
“We got all the streets on Grandview [Avenue] and we’re still working on a few on Duquesne.”
It’s the brain of Helen Oldfield, who told KDKA-TV that her recent move from the West Coast left something to be desired at first.
“I was very depressed and shocked by the amount of dirt and litter everywhere,” said Oldfield, creator of the Adopt-A-Block program.
She started volunteering for the large cleanups along Grandview Avenue and loved seeing people rappel down the sides to collect the accumulated trash.
“It’s the iconic street in Pittsburgh. It needs to be clean and look nice, but what about the rest of Mount Washington? When people wandered back through the streets, it was just horrible; it was a mess,” Oldfield said.
It was from that idea that Oldfield’s Adopt-a-Block program was born. Now she’s more than 60 volunteers deep and trying not to just clean but shift attitudes.
“I think a lot of the mess that accumulates up here on Grandview, unfortunately, is due to groups of young people collecting in the evening and just hanging out,” she said. “And it’s a cool place to hang out, so why not? They come with their motorbikes, and they come with their fast cars, and they drink, and they eat fast food, and then they chuck it all over the edge. I don’t believe the trash is due to any local residents or any visitors or sightseers.”
Volunteers Barbara and Paul Franklin say this is part of their life now.
“We’ve been here about a year, and we moved back to Pittsburgh after being away for 37 years, and we noticed there’s just a lot of trash out there,” Paul Franklin said.
The couple is now donning yellow safety vests, using an embroidery hoop to keep the trash bags open, and using grabbers to snag cigarette butts, cans, and even gum wrappers.
“When we do McCardle Roadway on Sunday mornings, I feel really good about that,” Barbara Franklin said.
The volunteers keep on coming, snapping pictures of themselves getting their steps in and making a difference, block by block.
“There is still a long way to go, and we are getting there, and I feel the motivation going here,” said Oldfield.
The Franklins told KDKA-TV that it’s addicting, and now they notice trash everywhere. They hope people will see this story and spread it beyond Mt. Washington.
“We’re proud of this city, we’re proud of this neighborhood, and we want to show it in its best light, and we think we’re helping to do that,” said Paul Franklin.
Oldfield said she hopes to secure some funding to continue supplying her volunteers with much-needed gear. She’s currently receiving some money from the community organization Neighbors on the Mount to purchase the vests and grabbers.
She’s soon applying for grant money in the form of a Neighborhood Economic Development grant and told KDKA-TV that she hopes the city will consider her group for the funds to keep this going.
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