Another day, another win for the Pirates. Wednesday night's win over the White Sox (PIT 3, CHW 2) was Pittsburgh's seventh straight win and their 20th in the last 25 games. Yes, the Pirates are 20-5 over the last four weeks. Remarkable.

During that 20-5 stretch, the Pirates have climbed from nine games back in the NL Central to five games back. Playing that well and only gaining four games on the Cardinals may be disheartening, but that's no way to look at it. They've made progress in a tough division against a great opponent.

Pittsburgh's recent success has a lot to do with the pitching -- this recent seven-game win streak has featured five shutouts. Five! Catcher Francisco Cervelli was behind the plate for over 50 consecutive scoreless innings at one point, the longest such streak by a catcher in nearly 60 years.

Cervelli had the unenviable task of replacing Russell Martin, but he's been more than adequate, he's thrived as the starting backstop. He came into Wednesday leading all catchers in batting average (.324) and on-base percentage (.404) in addition to being the game's top pitch-framer. Cervelli's been a tremendous pickup.

Pittsburgh is sending a quality starter to the mound every game and they have a bonafide star in Andrew McCutchen. Their excellent supporting cast is led by A.J. Burnett, Francisco Liriano, Jung Ho Kang, Starling Marte, Neil Walker, Cervelli and others. They've shaken off their slow start in a big way and currently have the second most wins in baseball (38) behind St. Louis (43).

The Pirates will look to extend their winning streak to eight games on Thursday, when they send ace Gerrit Cole to the mound. Cole is 10-2 with a league-leading 1.71 ERA in 2015. 

Francisco Cervelli and the Pirates won again on Wednesday.
Francisco Cervelli and the Pirates won again on Wednesday. (USATSI)

Welcome to Wednesday's edition of Eye on MLB, which you can use to keep tabs on everything that happens in the world of baseball. Game recaps, milestone updates, important highlights, news and notes, a preview of Thursday's action, and lots more. Make sure you check back for updates throughout the night and once more in the morning.

The slate for Wednesday night (Full scoreboard)

Yankees 2, Marlins 1 (Box score): Michael Pineda took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Christian Yelich broke it up with a home run. Adeiny Hechavarria was thrown out at the plate on the contact play in the eighth and Dellin Betances nailed down the five-out save, striking out Giancarlo Stanton in the process. Alex Rodriguez went 2 for 2 with two walks. He's three hits away from 3,000.

Blue Jays 8, Mets 0 (Box score): This game was reasonably close until the eighth inning, when the Blue Jays scored five runs off rookie Akeel Morris, who skipped Double-A and Triple-A and was called up from Single-A. Kevin Pillar and Danny Valencia went deep for Toronto and Drew Hutchison turned in 5 2/3 scoreless frames.

Orioles 6, Phillies 4 (Box score): This game didn't feel as close as the score indicates. The O's scored four runs in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead before Freddy Galvis whacked a three-run home run off Ubaldo Jimenez in the late innings. Chris Parmelee went deep for his third homer in two games with Baltimore.

Rays 5, Nationals 0 (Box score): Home runs by Steven Souza and Curt Casali paced the offense for Tampa Bay, who also scored three runs on errors by Washington. The Nats had just two hits -- singles by Bryce Harper and Ian Desmond. Jordan Zimmermann allowed three runs in seven innings to fall to 5-5 with a 3.75 ERA on the year.

Cubs 17, Indians 0 (Box score): Oh geez, this was bad. The Cubbies scored six runs in two innings against Shaun Marcum, three runs against Nick Hagadone (he recorded zero outs), and then seven runs against position players Ryan Raburn and David Murphy. Kris Bryant hit a grand slam off Murphy. Addison Russell, Anthony Rizzo and Chris Denorfia also went deep for Chicago.

Braves 5, Red Sox 2 (Box score): The Red Sox led 2-1 in the seventh inning before the bullpen -- specifically Junichi Tazawa, Tommy Layne and Craig Breslow -- melted down. Pedro Ciriaco, Nick Markakis and Cameron Maybin had run-scoring hits in the late innings. Alex Wood struck out seven and allowed two runs (one earned) in six innings.

Pirates 3, White Sox 2 (Box score): Make it seven straight wins -- and 20 wins in their last 25 games! -- for the Pirates. They scored all three runs in the first inning on an Andrew McCutchen RBI single and Jung Ho Kang's two-run home run. Jeff Locke struck out eight and allowed two runs in six innings. Allowing runs is rarity -- Pittsburgh has five shutouts during the seven-game win streak.

Royals 10, Brewers 2 (Box score): Three runs in the second, three runs in the fifth and four runs in the eighth put this game to bed for Kansas City. Alcides Escobar had two knocks and drove in four of those 10 runs. Spot starter Joe Blanton allowed one run in five innings and the Royals' bullpen allowed one hit in four innings.

Twins 3, Cardinals 1 (Box score): Tommy Milone (one run in seven innings) outpitched Carlos Martinez (two runs in 6 2/3 innings) and got some support from Eduardo Nunez and Mark Reynolds -- Nunez drove in two runs with a single and a sac fly, and Reynolds contributed to a Minnesota run with an error.

Astros 8, Rockies 4 (Box score): You're not going to believe this, but the Astros hit a bunch of home runs. Four, in fact. Carlos Correa (two-run), Preston Tucker (solo), Jake Marisnick (solo) and Chris Carter (two-run) did the honors. Brett Oberholtzer held Colorado to three runs in 6 1/3 innings at Coors Field.

Mariners 2, Giants 0 (Box score): The Felix Hernandez vs. Madison Bumgarner duel went to Team Felix. Hernandez struck out five in eight scoreless innings while MadBum fanned nine and allowed two runs in the eight inning complete-game loss. Austin Jackson and Robinson Cano put together back-to-back doubles in the sixth to drive in the game's only runs.

Diamondbacks 3, Angels 2 (Box score): Another day, another home run for Paul Goldschmidt. Welington Castillo also went deep for Arizona, who got six innings of two-run ball from Chase Anderson. Yasmany Tomas had three hits in the win. Brad Ziegler recorded his ninth save.

Athletics 16, Padres 2 (Box score): Odrisamer Despaigne allowed six runs in six innings and somehow had only the second worst night by a Padres pitcher -- Cory Mazzoni allowed seven runs in 2/3 of an inning. Utility infielder Alexi Amarista had to come in to get the final out of the eighth. Billy Butler (4 for 5, HR, 3 RBI) and Ben Zobrist (3 for 4, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI) had big days for the A's. Jesse Chavez struck out 11 in seven innings of one-run ball.

Reds 8, Tigers 4  in 13 innings (Box score): The David Price vs. Johnny Cueto matchup was interrupted by rain -- Price was out after five innings and Cueto after 5 1/3. For shame. This game went 13 innings and ended on Todd Frazier's two-strike, two-out, walk-off grand slam off Joakim Soria. He went deep earlier in the game too. Jay Bruce had five hits and Brayan Pena had four. Detroit mustered only six hits in 13 offensive innings.

Rangers 5, Dodgers 3 (Box score): Home runs by Joey Gallo (two-run) and Prince Fielder (solo) did the job for Texas, who hung four runs (three earned) on Clayton Kershaw in six innings. He still struck out 10. Scott Van Slyke blasted a two-run home run in his first game off the DL.

Milestone Watch

Longest active hit streak: Cubs rookie Kris Bryant has now hit safely in 13 straight games after going 2 for 6 with a grand slam on Wednesday.

A-Rod watch: With two singles on Wednesday night, A-Rod is now at 2,997 career hits. Only three away from 3,000!

Schwarber's first hit: Cubs rookie masher Kyle Schwarber picked up his first career hit on a triple. Though I suppose it could have been called a three-base error since Carlos Santana whiffed on the ground ball. Here's the video:

Daily Awards

Nicknames of the day: "Hey coach." "Hey player."

Strikeout of the day: I have no idea what Dee Gordon is doing here. He had to forget the count, right?

Unfortunate sign of the day: Folks, if you're from Salt Lake City, Utah, don't abbreviate it SL, UT. (h/t Reddit)

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Stat of the day: Aroldis Chapman is a video game. Actually, no, he's better than that, because in MLB 15: The Show pitchers top out at 101.

Dance of the day: Catch a home run ball at the College World Series? Celebrate!

Little league home run of the day: The Nationals can blame this on a wet ball from playing in the rain, right?

Interview of the day: Take it away, Tsuyoshi Wada:

Home run of the day: Oh nothing, just watching Joey Gallo hit a ball halfway up the bleachers off Clayton Kershaw.

Gosh. What power that kid has.

Short pitcher of the day: Alexi Amarista, a utility player for the Padres, is officially listed at 5-foot-6. He somehow looks even shorter than that on the mound:

Amarista retired the only batter he faced, if you're curious.

News, injuries and rumors

Sore neck kept Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira out of lineup

Pirates OF Starling Marte leaves game with ankle injury

Braves' Freddie Freeman has right-wrist sprain, won't play Thursday

Giants OF Gregor Blanco (concussion) could return Thursday

Padres OF Wil Myers to have wrist surgery on Thursday

Twins cut ties with reliever Tim Stauffer

Mariners P James Paxton (finger) won't begin throwing program

Dodgers RP Chris Hatcher (oblique) placed on 15-day DL

Phillies P Cliff Lee (forearm) won't throw for 3 or 4 more weeks

Rockies place OF Corey Dickerson on 15-day DL

Diamondbacks SP Archie Bradley to throw simulated game

Giants sign Marco Scutaro as goodwill gesture, not expected to play

Tigers' Ausmus: Alex Avila 'close' to rehab assignment

Mets 2B Daniel Murphy (quad) expected back on Tuesday

Cubs recall Yoervis Medina, send Zac Rosscup to DL

Denard Span out of the lineup with back stiffness

Andrelton Simmons out again with sore hand

Danny Duffy strikes out six in rehab start

Braves demote Mike Foltynewicz to minors

Strasburg strikes out six in first rehab start

Blue Jays 2B Devon Travis will head to Triple-A for rehab stint

Miguel Gonzalez (groin) improving in rehab process

Click here for more player news

Looking ahead to Thursday (all times ET)

We've got a full slate of games on Thursday, including a whole bunch of day games.

AWAY HOME TIME AWAY STARTER HOME STARTER NATL TV
Baltimore Philadelphia 1:05 pm Norris (2-4) - 8.29 ERA O'Sullivan (1-5) - 5.08 ERA  
St. Louis Minnesota 1:10 pm Garcia (2-3) - 2.06 ERA Pelfrey (5-3) - 3.18 ERA  
Houston Colorado 3:10 pm McHugh (6-3) - 5.08 ERA Hale (2-1) - 4.56 ERA  
San Diego Oakland 3:35 pm Kennedy (3-5) - 5.84 ERA Graveman (3-3) - 4.22 ERA  
L.A. Angels Arizona 3:40 pm Wilson (4-5) - 3.60 ERA Webster (1-0) - 3.18 ERA  
Tampa Bay Washington 7:05 pm Archer (7-4) - 2.00 ERA Fister (2-2) - 4.31 ERA  
Miami N.Y. Yankees 7:05 pm Latos (2-4) - 5.44 ERA Sabathia (3-7) - 5.38 ERA  
N.Y. Mets Toronto 7:07 pm Colon (9-4) - 4.41 ERA Dickey (2-6) - 5.29 ERA  
Chi. Cubs Cleveland 7:10 pm Hammel (5-2) - 2.81 ERA Carrasco (8-5) - 4.38 ERA  
Boston Atlanta 7:10 pm Buchholz (3-6) - 4.22 ERA Miller (5-2) - 2.02 ERA  
Detroit Cincinnati 7:10 pm Verlander (0-0) - 3.60 ERA Leake (3-4) - 4.35 ERA  
Pittsburgh Chi. White Sox 8:10 pm Cole (10-2) - 1.71 ERA Samardzija (4-4) - 4.84 ERA  
Milwaukee Kansas City 8:10 pm Nelson (3-7) - 4.60 ERA Guthrie (4-4) - 5.79 ERA FS1
San Francisco Seattle 10:10 pm Vogelsong (4-5) - 4.81 ERA Montgomery (1-1) - 1.89 ERA  
Texas L.A. Dodgers 10:10 pm Lewis (6-3) - 4.37 ERA Greinke (5-2) - 1.95 ERA