The Latest Breaking News from Pirates

PITTSBURGH — Zach Thompson has looked like a completely different pitcher since the calendar turned to May.

Losing is a collection of tiny, individual tragedies. And so far this season, Cincinnati has done a lot of losing.

PITTSBURGH — In the fourth and fifth innings of Friday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds, the Pirates’ offense had fleeting chances to mount a comeback.

PITTSBURGH — If one were to make a list of the former Pirates most likely to come back to haunt the team, Connor Overton wouldn’t have been at the top.

“I’m confident that we’re a good enough defensive club and we’ll get better,” manager Tony La Russa said.

PITTSBURGH — Daniel Vogelbach finished his swing, dropped his bat and stared toward the Clemente Wall in right field. The Pirates’ designated hitter found a low-and-inside fastball, and he did what many left-handed hitters do with pitches there — pulverized it. No question Vogelbach knew it was gone.

PITTSBURGH — On Monday, the Pirates played one of their best games of the young season, pitching a gem in a 5-1 win over the perennial powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers.

PITTSBURGH — The streak the Pirates had going was equal parts emblematic of their new pitching philosophy and the byproduct of playing sub-.500 baseball. It was also just pretty darn strange. Nearly 30 games, and a starting pitcher didn’t have a single win? Yeah, never happened before.

The kid who grew up in Norwood Park, starting out playing T-ball as a 6-year-old, made his MLB debut with the Pirates on April 26 as a 23-year-old outfielder.

CINCINNATI — The first win of the season for a Pirates starting pitcher will have to wait. So will any good vibes emanating from the banks of the Ohio River, which vanished along with a couple baseballs off the bat of old friend Colin Moran, who smacked two home runs…

You could tell he was terrified.