The Latest Breaking News from Pirates

PITTSBURGH — The NCAA baseball season ended Monday night with LSU topping Florida in Game 3 of the College World Series. Now comes the real intrigue, at least locally.

PITTSBURGH — When the San Diego Padres clustered five hits and scored three runs in the top of the second inning on Tuesday night, it felt like another disastrous night looming for the Pirates.

PITTSBURGH — Remember when the Pirates were the talk of baseball? When the sport buzzed about their shocking 20-8 start? It seems like a lifetime ago now, doesn't it? The Pirates have gone 15-34 since. They have turned back into laughable losers.

Hitting coach Andy Haines has become a popular target for fan frustration amid plenty of Pirates struggles: losses in 12 of 13 after Sunday's shutout — their 10th, tied for an MLB high — plus ranking 28th in runs (72) and 29th in OPS (.626) this month.

In London, Christopher Morel will seek his 14th home run since being called back up on May 9 and his 25th of the season, including the gangbusters month-plus he spent at Triple-A Iowa. But why stop there?

The Cubs, on a 10-2 tear, have it going heading into a two-game set against the Cardinals.

The Cardinals aren’t used to being in this position.

Stroman’s 1.29 ERA during this stretch makes one wonder if the 32-year-old ever has been better.

PITTSBURGH — Four hours before the Pirates would host the Cubs for the second game of their series at PNC Park, team president Travis Williams was giving a tour through the team’s revamped clubhouse store along Federal Street.

The 92.7 mph average exit velocity Suzuki brought into Tuesday night topped the Cubs and, according to Baseball Savant, ranked in the 93rd percentile across the majors.

PITTSBURGH — The two ovations actually sounded somewhat similar, Andrew McCutchen leading off the first inning and Henry Davis two frames later. Although they were drafted 16 years apart and several genres separate their choices in walkup music, the importance of McCutchen and Davis to this franchise is hard to…