The Latest Breaking News from Pirates

PITTSBURGH — Much of the baseball world was introduced to left-hander Framber Valdez this past postseason. Although he made his MLB debut in 2018, the uniquely built (5-11, 240 pounds) Astros starter made a name for himself with four playoff starts this past fall, including a pair off victories in…

Oneil Cruz had surgery on his fractured left ankle at Allegheny General Hospital late Sunday night, the Pirates announced on Monday afternoon. They also projected the 24-year-old shortstop's timeline to return at four months, meaning Cruz won't return until after the All-Star break and well into August.

A soul-warming occurrence for something like the last 140 years, baseball's annual return to Pittsburgh this weekend brought with it as required an inevitable portion of nostalgia, sometimes felt in its acute form as plain old sadness.

The Pirates’ Oneil Cruz suffers a fractured ankle on a play that sparked a benches-clearing incident; Sox starter Kopech pitches six innings of one-run ball.

Things got heated in Pittsburgh following a tough play at the plate that left Oneil Cruz injured.

PITTSBURGH — Johan Oviedo was absolutely dominant for large chunks of Sunday’s series-deciding game against the Chicago White Sox, yet his performance isn’t the biggest talking point from this one. The same for the Pirates taking a second consecutive series during a better-than-anticipated start to the season.

That explains why benches cleared.

“If you focus on Luis and his day, you realize these days are needed,” Grifol said.

PITTSBURGH — Vince Velasquez had an early opportunity to show his former team why he’s deserving of a rotating spot. The brain trust of his previous employer, the Chicago White Sox, likely didn’t feel it had let one get away Saturday night.

The Sox lead the majors with eight games of 10 or more hits, and this one was their sixth in as many road games. Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Andrew Benintendi, Andrew Vaughn, Yasmani Grandal and Oscar Colas each had two.

White Sox righty Michael Kopech looks to rebound from an awful start.