Report: Clint Hurdle will be back to manage Pirates in 2020 - MLB

The Pirates will finish the 2019 season in the cellar of the NL Central, ending a tumultuous season that saw several clubhouse incidents and instigation of HBP wars with other teams. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that manager Clint Hurdle would be fired and GM Neal Huntington might not be far behind him.

Surprisingly, Hurdle will be back managing the Pirates in 2020, The Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt reports, and signs seem to indicate Huntington will be back as well.

The 62-year-old Hurdle has been with the Pirates since 2011, amassing a 732-719 (.504) regular season record. The Pirates made the postseason three years in a row from 2013-15 — losing the 2013 NLDS followed by the NL Wild Card game in the next two seasons — and haven’t been back since.

Hurdle is under contract through 2021, as is Huntington. Some big changes will have to be made to the team to not only improve the talent on the field, but the culture in the clubhouse. Hurdle said, “I’ve had more situations in the second half of this season than I had in 16 1/2 years of managing.”

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HOUSTON – Yordan Alvarez hit a go-ahead three-run double in the seventh inning, and the Houston Astros rallied past the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Friday night for their first win of the season.

Kyle Tucker hit a two-run homer in the sixth and made a spectacular catch at the wall in the seventh to rob Andrew Benintendi of extra bases and keep the World Series champion Astros within one run.

Eloy Jimenez hit two RBI doubles for the White Sox, both off Astros starter Cristian Javier.

Jimenez’s first double scored Tim Anderson in the first inning. In the sixth, Javier gave up three straight doubles to Benintendi, Jimenez and Joan Moncada to make it 3-0 and end his night.

White Sox reliever Kendall Graveman (0-1) loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh on two walks and a single. Jake Diekman came on and gave up Alvarez’s double to deep left-center, a drive that just eluded Luis Robert Jr. and bounced off the wall, clearing the bases.

Four Astros relievers each worked one scoreless inning. Seth Martinez (1-0) got the win and Rafael Montero handled the ninth for his first save.

Chicago starter Lance Lynn allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

ALL IN A DAY’S REST

White Sox INF Andrew Vaughn, who hit a go-ahead two-run double in Thursday’s season-opening win, did not play. Vaughn experienced lower back issues during spring training. Gavin Sheets started at first base.

HOMETOWN HIT

Astros outfielder Corey Yulks, a Houston-area native, singled in his first at-bat and finished 1-for-4 in his major league debut.

PUT A RING ON IT

Astros owner Jim Crane and his wife, Whitney, presented the team and staff with their 2022 World Series rings in a pregame ceremony.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: LHP Blake Taylor, who is on the 15-day injured list with a left elbow strain, began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land.

UP NEXT

The four-game season-opening series continues Saturday when Houston’s Jose Urquidy faces Chicago’s Lucas Giolito.