PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates chose to remove starting first baseman Rowdy Tellez from their game Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, due to injury.

The Pirates announced that Tellez suffered from back spasms, leading to the medical staff to examine him and treat him. They also announced his status is day-to-day.

Diamondbacks starting pitcher in right-hander Zac Gallen hit Tellez on his hand in the top of the first inning. Medical staff and Pirates manager Derek Shelton looked at him, but decided to keep him on.

Tellez struggled in his next at-bat in the top of the third inning, laboring through and eventually fouling out to Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno.

Shelton took Tellez out shortly after and put utilityman Connor Joe in his place.

Tellez has hit .249 this season, with 62 hits in 249 at-bats, along with 10 doubles, nine home runs, 36 RBI and 19 walks to 56 strikeouts. He also has a .299 on-base percentage, .398 slugging percentage and .697 OPS.

He played with the Toronto Blue Jays from 2018-21, before they traded him to NL Central rival in the Milwaukee Brewers for pitchers Trevor Richards and Bowden Francis in July 2021. Tellez spent 2021-23 with the Brewers

He signed with the Pirates on a one-year contract worth $3.2 million and $4 million with incentives.

Tellez had a rough start to the season, but his recent play, including hitting over .300 in July, has started to lead to great reception from the home fans.

Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates.

(CONSUMER) —Summer isn’t all fun in the sun. It increasingly includes dangerous heat and severe storms, but there are ways to protect yourself and your home.

Consumer Reports explains that a good defense against Mother Nature’s warm weather wrath starts with DIY projects around the house.

Climate change brings more frequent and destructive weather from coast to coast. That’s led to a dramatic increase in many homeowner’s insurance policies. But that price hike doesn’t mean you’re getting more coverage.

Homeowner’s insurance generally doesn’t cover water from outside your house, so supplementing your insurance with a flood policy is not a bad idea.

Even without a flood, extreme heat can damage water in surprising ways, specifically with your plumbing. Take metal pipes: They can expand and contract and, over time, leak.

You should inspect your plumbing routinely or have a plumber do it regularly. You could also consider installing a leak detector. They’re a little expensive upfront but can save you tons of money in the long run.

Consumer Reports recommends the leak detector, Flo by Moen Smart Water Shutoff System 900-001, which costs $500.

Extreme heat can wreak havoc on your roofing even when the weather is dry. It’s essential to inspect it and look for damaged shingles or tiles and replace them before they leak and cause more damage.

The heat could overtax your air conditioning system. Regularly replacing the air filters and scheduling routine professional maintenance will help avoid pricey repairs later.

High heat and humidity can also create ideal conditions for mold and mildew. To prevent this, you should keep the humidity inside your home between thirty and fifty percent.

Anything higher and mold and dust mites can thrive. A dehumidifier can help with that.

Consumer Reports tested dozens of dehumidifiers and found that the Midea MAD50C1ZWS, priced at $250 for larger rooms, does a great job of removing water from the air, which helps maintain the ideal humidity in your home.

If you’re concerned about power outages, a portable generator can help power the essentials in your home.

You’ll want to store a generator in a clean, dry, and ventilated spot that you can access easily and that is NOT attached to the house.

You’ll want to have at least 10 gallons of fresh gasoline on hand in a safety container, adding fuel stabilizer to help it last as long as possible.

Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO via Consumer Reports. All rights reserved.

ARIZONA — Professional football player or not, it’s human nature to wonder if the grass is actually greener elsewhere.

In his own words, former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins believes that to be the case with the Tennessee Titans as year two with the organization approaches:

“I love Tennessee. I love what Miss Amy (Adams Strunk, the Titans owner) is doing,” Hopkins told The Tennessean’s Nick Gray. “I think this is the happiest I’ve been in any organization, so I’ll just let that speak for itself.”

Hopkins was released by the Cardinals last summer after months of trade speculation with the Cardinals. New general manager Monti Ossenfort made the decision to cut Hopkins and wipe the slate clean, allowing the former Houston Texans star to hit the open market while getting his salary completely off the books in 2024 by absorbing all of the $22.6 million cap hit last season.

Hopkins visited with a handful of Super Bowl contenders before inking a two-year, $26 million deal with the Titans before the start of last season. He caught 75 passes for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns.

Hopkins’ tenure in the desert could be viewed in a few different lights. On one hand, the Cardinals did get strong production out of their star wideout with some exciting memories attached. Arizona needed another prominent pass catcher for Kyler Murray, and more times than not, Hopkins rose to the occasion.

On the other, Hopkins played just 19 games his final two years in the desert and was notably suspended for PED use, something he wholeheartedly denied both during and after the suspension.

There were also reports he sat out the final two games of the 2022 despite being healthy. In the months leading up to his release, Hopkins was extremely impartial on wanting to remain in Arizona in podcasts and on social media.

Not all the shade was directed at Arizona, however. The Texans traded him for scraps ahead of the 2020 season, a move that’s still discussed in low light to this day.

When asked about Hopkins’ contract, Titans GM Ran Carthon offered this:

“He’s one of the guys that’s on our team, and we’ve talked about a number of guys on the team to have those conversations,” Carthon said.

“One thing I appreciate about D Hop is, if you guys have gotten to know him, D Hop is straight forward and D Hop and I, we can have some straightforward conversations, and we have and we do. And so D Hop knows how we feel about him, and I think that’s a big thing, especially for a veteran at this stage of his career.

“I think the way he’s shown up here, the way he’s bought into a new staff, kind of shows how he feels about us and what we have going.”

If Hopkins is as happy as he says he is, he could very well stick around with the Titans.