With active rosters expanding from 26 to 28 players in September, the Pirates have recalled left-hander Brandon Eisert from Triple-A Indianapolis and selected catcher Christian Bethancourt ahead of Tuesday night's game against the Giants.
Eisert, who was acquired from the White Sox on July 10, has made 32 appearances between Chicago and Pittsburgh this season and is 2-2 with a 6.29 ERA. He's struck out 40 batters and walked 12 in 34.1 innings.
The Pirates acquired Bethancourt from the Yankees on Aug. 19 and had been on the taxi squad since the trade. In 67 games at Triple-A between the Yankees and Cubs organizations this season, the 34-year-old hit .270/.320/.491 with 14 homers and 45 RBI in 59 games.
Bethancourt last appeared in the big leagues in 2024. In parts of eight big-league seasons he owns a .229/.259/.362 batting line with 60 doubles, 35 home runs and 135 RBI in 427 games between six teams.
To clear a spot for Bethancourt on the 40-man roster, the Pirates transferred catcher/first baseman Endy Rodríguez to the 60-day injured list. Rodríguez underwent left hip labrum surgery on Aug. 26.

#bethancourt #eisert #triple

A series loss in Cincinnati and yet another injury blow will not deter the Pirates from buying at the trade deadline.
Despite falling a game below .500, the Pirates are looking to add more pieces to their roster ahead of the 6 p.m. ET buzzer, a source familiar with the situation told Pittsburgh Baseball Now.
The Pirates made a notable move on Saturday, when they acquired right-handed reliever Camilo Doval from the Yankees for a pair of prospects. Among the other additions Pittsburgh has made so far this month are infielder Jacob Gonzalez, left-hander Brandon Eisert and right-hander Ron Marinaccio. But it's not yet enough.
This is the second time general manager Ben Cherington has been looking to add pieces at the deadline and not subtract. The other was in 2024, and if the Pirates want to be serious contenders, they can't repeat what they did two years ago.
That year, the Pirates were teetering between buying and selling but entered the deadline a couple games over .500. To bolster its roster, Pittsburgh acquired infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Blue Jays, outfielder Bryan De La Cruz from the Marlins and left-handed reliever Jalen Beeks from the Rockies.

#pittsburgh #looking #roster #right

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired left-handed reliever Brandon Eisert and infielder Jacob Gonzalez from the Chicago White Sox on Friday night in a trade for minor league left-hander Jaden Woods and a competitive balance round selection in the amateur draft on Saturday.
The draft selection is No. 34 overall.
Eisert, 28, is 2-1 with a 5.93 ERA in 25 games this season, including four starts.
Gonzalez, 24, was hitting .320 with 19 home runs in 53 games at Triple-A Charlotte after making his major league debut earlier in the season.
Woods, 24, has a 9.31 ERA in 10 relief appearances for Triple-A Indianapolis.

Jacob Gonzalez stepped in at first base for the Chicago White Sox when slugger Munetaka Murakami went on the injured list.
Gonzalez made progress throughout his 30 big-league games but was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte when Murakami returned from the IL on Friday.
It was a short return to the Knights for the 2023 first-round pick, who was traded along with reliever Brandon Eisert to the Pittsburgh Pirates late Friday for a Competitive Balance Round A selection (No. 34) in the upcoming MLB draft and left-handed reliever Jaden Woods.
The Sox add the No. 34 pick to their draft board, which begins with making the No. 1 selection Saturday.
Woods, 24, will be **** igned to Charlotte. He went 3-2 with a 4.84 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings during 27 relief appearances this season with Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pirates system.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Colson Montgomery hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning off Tim Herrin for the second of his two RBIs, helping the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 on Saturday night.
Chicago reclaimed first place in the AL Central by percentage points over the Guardians, who won the first two games of the series on walk-off hits.
Montgomery, who leads all shortstops with 22 homers, led off the eighth with a 402-foot shot to center off Herrin (1-4). It came on the first anniversary of his major league debut and gave the White Sox a 2-1 lead.
All-Star Miguel Vargas tacked on a sacrifice fly against Matt Festa in the ninth, scoring Tristan Peters with an insurance run.
Brandon Eisert (2-1) earned the win with two clean innings of relief, while Grant Taylor worked the ninth for his third save in six opportunities. Taylor allowed Brayan Rocchio's game-ending two-run homer Friday.

The White Sox (44-39) will look to strengthen their hold on first place in the AL Central tonight in Baltimore when they take the field for Game 2 of their series against the Orioles (39-47).
Monday's opener belonged to the White Sox, who pulled away late for an 8-2 victory. The game was tied 2-2 entering the eighth inning before Chicago's offense erupted. Colson Montgomery delivered the go-ahead RBI double, Randal Grichuk added an insurance run-scoring single, and Jacob Gonzalez finished with three RBIs as the White Sox scored six runs over the final two innings. Chicago's bullpen was dominant after starter Sean Burke exited, with Grant Taylor, Chris Murphy, and Brandon Eisert combining for 3.2 scoreless innings without allowing a hit. Adley Rutschman drove in both runs for Baltimore with sacrifice flies, but the Orioles managed only four hits and struck out 13 times.
With the win, the White Sox improved to 16-25 on the road while Baltimore fell for the third straight game at Camden Yards and is now just 23-22 at home this season.
Tonight, the White Sox hand the ball to veteran right-hander Erick Fedde, who enters at 2-6 with a 4.34 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, and 50 strikeouts in 74.2 innings. Fedde has been special in June. In 21.1 innings over five appearances, the right-hander has allowed just four earned runs (1.69 ERA). Baltimore counters with right-hander Trey Gibson, who owns a 1-2 record with a 5.64 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 30.1 innings. Unlike Fedde, Gibson has struggled in June allowing 14 runs in 18 innings.
Lets dive into tonight's matchup and find a sweat or two.

The White Sox waited until the last minute to tee off on Cleveland closer Cade Smith in the ninth inning once more, but could not convert a run with the bases loaded in the 10th, falling 4-3. As if to indicate dismay with leaving an attainable sweep on the table, the rain that initially delayed today’s contest almost three hours) started pouring. As a result, the two teams are again tied for first.
Both teams experienced traffic on the basepaths in the second, Erick Fedde with back-to-back walks, and Tanner Bibee with a hit-by-pitch and single. Both pitchers escaped their jams to leave it knotted at zero. The White Sox would again put two runners on in the third with singles from Sam Antonacci and Miguel Vargas, but the pair were left stranded when Andrew Benintendi hit into a fielder’s choice.
A single, an error, and a walk would load the bases for Cleveland in the top of the sixth, with no outs. Kahlil Watson singled on a line drive straight to Antonacci, whose throw to Kyle Teel in an attempt to cut down the second runner out at home short-hopped the catcher. That was all for Fedde, and surprisingly Brandon Eisert inherited two runners on and one out and was able to stun batters for back-to-back strikeouts, escaping the jam.
In the seventh, Teel got his first hit since coming back two days ago, and Colson Montgomery helped out with a double. With ducks on the pond a sac fly from Braden Montgomery sent Teel home, making it 2-1. Randal Grichuk came off the bench, but with that move, the Guardians went back to their bullpen to replace lefty reliever Erik Sabrowski. Grichuk launched a ball to center, but with a diving catch, Steven Kwan ended the rally.
Joe Rock came on to pitch in the Chicago eighth and struggled with his command. Petey Halpin started Rock’s outing with a single, and Kyle Manzardo walked. Rock was able to get a strikeout and a fly out, but walked Daniel Schneemann to load the bases and then walked in a run to keep the bases loaded for Kwan. Thankfully, Kwan has been struggling and left the bases loaded after going down swinging.

After a less-than-stellar trip to Houston, the Tigers home and had an off day to sit there and think about what they've done, mister. But, since the sport rolls on, the American Central-leading Chicago White Sox came to town (and yes, that looks weird to me too) for the opener of a three-game weekend series on a windy Friday night which promised to make fly ***** an adventure. After the lead changed hands a couple of times, a well-timed, well-placed, 2-run blooper was the difference in a 4-3 Tigers win.
Tarik Skubal made his second start since coming off the Injured List; his first one wasn't great, but there must have been some rust that he had to shake off. When healthy this year he's usually been the same ol' Cy Skubal, with an ERA of 2.81 (154 ERA+), a WHIP of 0.979, and seven walks given-out in 48 innings coming into tonight's game.
Brandon Eisert was an opener for Erick Fedde; Eisert's in his second full season in the major leagues, after spending a bit of time with the Blue Jays in 2024. He's opened a few times this year, so this wasn't anything new for him. Fedde was drafted by the Nationals and spent several ho-hum years there; he then went to South Korea in 2023 and had an ERA of 2.00 with a 20-6 record. He came back to North America after that season and hasn't been able to duplicate the success he had in Korea; maybe he can't find any good ***** chae here.
Randal Grichuk, who is only in the major leagues because he hits lefties, hit a lefty: a solo home run in the top of the first put Chicago up 1-0.
Matt Vierling got that run back and added one with a two-run home run after a Dillon Dingler single, putting the Tigers up 2-1 in the bottom of the first.

Wow.
What an incredible game from the South Siders, who never gave up regardless of how many times their safety squeeze failed to score a run, or how many home runs Matt Olson hit against them (two, by the way). This game had everything: solid pitching, drama, home runs, extra innings, an extended hit streak, and a rookie debut for the ages.
The White Sox (35-31) defeated the best team in MLB, stealing an extra-inning W against the Braves (45-22), 6-5. Braden Montgomery went 2-for-4 in his debut and checked many firsts off the list: first hit, RBI, home run, and walk-off. On top of that, Miguel Vargas flashed his power yet again, Chase Meidroth extended his hit streak from nine to 10, and the South Siders went 4-for-12 (.300) with runners in scoring position. Could have done without the bunts, however.
Because of course, the Good Guys went with their trusty opener, as Brandon Eisert was slated to man the first inning, but he only threw strikes roughly half of the time (11 of 21 pitches), gave up two runs, and forced Erick Fedde to enter the game in the first anyway. Eisert was somehow able to strike out Ronald Acuña Jr. after falling behind in the count, 3-0, to start the game, but a base hit from Michael Harris III began the madness before the lefty ceded a two-run bomb to Matt Olson, making it 2-0, Atlanta. Before Fedde came in, Eisert recorded one more out before putting another pair of runners on base, but Fedde thankfully struck out Austin Riley to end the threat.
Fedde made it through the second (mostly) unscathed, not without hitting Ronald Acuña and instigating some Acuña on Acuña crime, as Ronald was thrown out attempting to steal, tagged out by his brother Luisangel to end the inning — later confirmed by review. Unfortunately, Ronald later left the game with hamstring tightness, and hopefully it’s not a serious injury that sends him to the IL.