HEANEY SPARKLES AGAIN FOR BUCS

The early top candidate for best free agent signing in Major League Baseball just might be Andrew Heaney, who gave the Pirates another outstanding effort last night in a win over the Angels.  Joe Block has the story.

Manager Derek Shelton says the Pirates knew Andrew Heaney was good, but he’s been great so far this season.  (In four starts, Heaney is 2-1 with a microscopic 1.72 ERA)

Shelton says Oneil Cruz is playing excellent baseball lately after struggling early in the season.

The Pirates will try for their third straight win in Anaheim tonight.  Right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski takes a 1-3 record with a 7.41 ERA into the game against left-hander Tyler Anderson, the former Pirate who is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA.  It’s a 9:00 airtime, an oddly specific 9:29 first pitch on WCCS.

The weekly injury report from director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk includes bad news for reliever Tim Mayza, who will not throw a baseball for at least six weeks due to a lat muscle strain. First baseman Spencer Horwitz is in Bradenton and will begin a rehab assignment soon.  Pitcher Jared Jones will have new imaging on his elbow this week.  There is no real news for injured second baseman Nick Gonzalez, pitcher Colin Holderman, or catcher/first baseman Endy Rodriguez.