Community Picks: LAA Angels 0% vs Houston Astros 0%

This new trend of catchers pitching really seems to be catching on. Backstop Christian Bethancourt has pitched twice this year for the San Diego Padres, once at the beginning of June, and once in mid-June. Now Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Erik Kratz has matched him, notching his second pitching appearance on Tuesday night.  With the Pirates losing to the San Francisco Giants 15-3 in the top of the ninth inning, manager Clint Hurdle called on his trusty back-up backstop Erik Kratz to give the bullpen some much needed rest. It wouldn't be easy, though. The first batter that Kratz faced was Brandon Belt, who was hitting .304 for the Giants before Tuesday's game. Kratz waged a seven pitch battle, which included a 52 mph knuckleball (that was WAY outside) and an 82 mph changeup. With the count full, Kratz threw Belt a pitch at 79 mph, and Belt just swung clean through it, giving Kratz his only strikeout. Kratz would face four more batters in that inning, giving up two singles but zero runs. Only one other Pirates pitcher accomplished that on Tuesday night: Jared Hughes. And Hughes faced just two batters in 1/3 of an inning. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] The highlight of Kratz's outing was definitely his strikeout of Belt, and the MLB GIFS twitter account had to take advantage. #NotAPitcher . https://t.co/rgbGqqYB1e pic.twitter.com/jsMAd92N4M — MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) June 22, 2016 If Belt didn't have a sense of humor, he might be upset about that tweet. Thankfully, Belt does have a sense of humor, and he knew just what to say. Apparently not a hitter either https://t.co/YbXaAcWwuI — Brandon Belt (@bbelt9) June 22, 2016 Belt shouldn't feel too bad about striking out against a catcher, since Kratz had a little practice earlier in the season. His first time on the mound was back in April, when he was with the Houston Astros. He was the first position player to pitch in 2016, but he gave up two runs on three hits. His appearance on Tuesday had a much better result. Perhaps Kratz will celebrate with a hearty helping of turkey bacon.  More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:   - - - - - - Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher Continue to Article

June 22, 2016 11:23:am EST

This new trend of catchers pitching really seems to be catching on. Backstop Christian Bethancourt has pitched twice this year for the San Diego Padres, once at the beginning of June, and once in mid-June. Now Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Erik Kratz has matched him, notching his second pitching appearance on Tuesday night.  With the Pirates losing to the San Francisco Giants 15-3 in the top of the ninth inning, manager Clint Hurdle called on his trusty back-up backstop Erik Kratz to give the bullpen some much needed rest. It wouldn't be easy, though. The first batter that Kratz faced was Brandon Belt, who was hitting .304 for the Giants before Tuesday's game. Kratz waged a seven pitch battle, which included a 52 mph knuckleball (that was WAY outside) and an 82 mph changeup. With the count full, Kratz threw Belt a pitch at 79 mph, and Belt just swung clean through it, giving Kratz his only strikeout. Kratz would face four more batters in that inning, giving up two singles but zero runs. Only one other Pirates pitcher accomplished that on Tuesday night: Jared Hughes. And Hughes faced just two batters in 1/3 of an inning. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] The highlight of Kratz's outing was definitely his strikeout of Belt, and the MLB GIFS twitter account had to take advantage. #NotAPitcher . https://t.co/rgbGqqYB1e pic.twitter.com/jsMAd92N4M — MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) June 22, 2016 If Belt didn't have a sense of humor, he might be upset about that tweet. Thankfully, Belt does have a sense of humor, and he knew just what to say. Apparently not a hitter either https://t.co/YbXaAcWwuI — Brandon Belt (@bbelt9) June 22, 2016 Belt shouldn't feel too bad about striking out against a catcher, since Kratz had a little practice earlier in the season. His first time on the mound was back in April, when he was with the Houston Astros. He was the first position player to pitch in 2016, but he gave up two runs on three hits. His appearance on Tuesday had a much better result. Perhaps Kratz will celebrate with a hearty helping of turkey bacon.  More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:   - - - - - - Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher Continue to Article

June 22, 2016 11:23:am EST

Even in advance of the Houston Astros' 3-2, walk-off victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night, Houston manager A.J. Hinch had been repeatedly fielding questions over the pending significance of his club reaching .500 following a miserable opening month of the season. When the Astros (36-36) hit that plateau in the second game of their series with the Angels (31-40), Hinch did his best to downplay the minor achievement. Continue to Article

June 22, 2016 1:21:am EST

Even in advance of the Houston Astros' 3-2, walk-off victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night, Houston manager A.J. Hinch had been repeatedly fielding questions over the pending significance of his club reaching .500 following a miserable opening month of the season. When the Astros (36-36) hit that plateau in the second game of their series with the Angels (31-40), Hinch did his best to downplay the minor achievement. Continue to Article

June 22, 2016 1:21:am EST

Carlos Correa relishes the chance to be at the plate with the game on the line. For the third time this season, Correa came through in the clutch. The shortstop hit a two-run single to right-center field with no outs in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night. Continue to Article

June 22, 2016 12:35:am EST