BlackAmericans.com

PITTSBURGH — It was perfectly sunny during batting practice Thursday at PNC Park, not a blip of rain on the radar. Joe Girardi, the Yankees’ manager, thought back to the last time the Yankees tried to play here, and how that game began against the Pittsburgh Pirates’ left-hander Paul Maholm.

J. J. Hardy hit two home runs a day after his 16-game hitting streak ended to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to an 11-6 win and a three-game sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates at home on Sunday.

Raúl Ibáñez’s tiebreaking homer in the fourth was enough offense as the Seattle Mariners won for the eighth time in 11 games beating the Detroit Tigers on Friday.

Ken Griffey Jr.’s two-run homer helped the Reds defeat the Pirates and the Astros released Shawn Chacon following a scuffle with the team’s general manager.

The Yankees were rained out with a 3-1 lead, and will have to play the Pirates in a makeup game on July 10.

The Pittsburgh Pirates thumped the Yankees, before 38,867 festive fans. It was the first meaningful game there between the teams since the 1960 World Series.

Cito Gaston earned his first win as manager and the Blue Jays snapped a seven-game losing streak, beating the Pirates on Sunday.

The Tampa Bay Rays selected Tim Beckham, a high school shortstop from Griffin, Ga., with the No. 1 pick in the amateur draft.

Pedro Alvarez, a third baseman for Vanderbilt, had a stellar high school career in New York. With the first pick overall, the Rays chose the powerful shortstop Tim Beckham.

José Reyes had seemingly drifted off and neglected to cover second base during a botched rundown that was the nadir of the team’s humiliating loss to the Pirates Wednesday.