The Pittsburgh Pirates fired manager Clint Hurdle before Sunday’s game. Hurdle led the Pirates for nine seasons. He had a record of 735-720. The 62-year old Hurdle finishes his Pirates career fourth on the all-time wins list behind Fred Clarke, Danny Murtaugh and Jim Leyland. Hurdle led the Pirates to the post-season in 2013 as the team ended 20 consecutive losing seasons.
The Pirates lost 3-1 to the Cincinnati Reds in their final game of the season Sunday. Trevor Williams went seven innings for the Bucs, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out five. All three Cincinnati runs came via solo home runs. The Pirates ended their season 69-93.
Kevin Newman had one hit and ended his season with a .308 batting average. He and Bryan Reynolds became the first rookies since the mid-1970’s to both hit over .300 for a season. Reynolds ended the year with a .314 average.
Sunday’s game was also the final game in a Pirates broadcast booth for Steve Blass. The 77-year old Blass spent 60 years in the Pirates organization as a player and broadcaster.
The post-season will begin this week in Major League Baseball. In the National League Wild Card game – Washington will host Milwaukee Tuesday. In the American League, Oakland will host Tampa Bay Wednesday.
St. Louis locked up the National League Central Division with a 9-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs Sunday.
The Cubs also fired manager Joe Maddon. The 65-year old Maddon spent five seasons with the Cubs, and led them to their first World Series title in more than 100 years in 2016.
The Cardinals will visit the Atlanta Braves to open their National League Divisional Series Thursday.
Former Pirate Gerrit Cole won his 20th game of the season Sunday, with his Houston franchise-record 16th consecutive win. The Astros ended the year with the best record in baseball at 107-55 overall, and clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
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