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Flores went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and a double in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Royals.
Flores provided the decisive blow in Sunday's victory -- he launched a 426-foot blast off Nate Pearson in the eighth inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3. The 25-year-old Flores has been on a tear of late, going 20-for-47 (.426) over his last 13 games. Overall, he's batting .286 with a .910 OPS, 22 RBI and 16 runs scored across 147 plate appearances this season.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Exiting starting lineup
Rotowire
Flores is not in the lineup for Friday's game versus the Royals.
After starting each of the previous four contests, Flores will exit the lineup for Friday's series opener. Henry Davis will do the catching for the Pirates.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Smacks ninth homer
Rotowire
Flores went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Wednesday against the Brewers.
Flores went deep in the sixth inning to tally his ninth home run of the season. He also extended his hitting streak to 10 games, during which he has hit .421 with two home runs, three RBI and three runs scored. Flores has emerged as a mainstay in the Pirates' lineup, serving as the primary catcher against righties while often starting at first base against lefties.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Four hits in Tuesday's loss
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Flores went 4-for-4 in Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Brewers.
All four knocks were singles, but it was still an impressive way for Flores to extend his hitting streak to nine games. During that span, the 25-year-old catcher is batting .441 (15-for-34) with a double and a homer but just two runs and two RBI as the Pittsburgh offense as a whole has struggled over the final weeks of the season -- Tuesday marked the sixth time in 13 September contests that the Pirates scored two runs or fewer.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Day off Saturday
Rotowire
Flores isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Cubs.
Flores has recorded a base hit in each of his last six games, but the Pirates will keep him on the bench to begin Saturday's affair. Henry Davis will take over behind the dish and bat ninth.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Receiving Sunday off
Rotowire
Flores is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Angels.
The Pirates will go with Henry Davis behind the plate Sunday while Flores rests for the second time in the series. Though he's maintained a solid .794 OPS over 105 plate appearances with the Pirates on the season, Flores has fallen into a bit of cold spell lately, going 4-for-30 with a 28.1 percent strikeout rate over his last nine games.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Resting Friday
Rotowire
Flores is not in the Pirates' starting lineup against the Angels on Friday.
Flores will get a breather after going 2-for-31 with one home run, three RBI and a 2:8 BB:K over his last six games. Henry Davis will start behind home plate and bat ninth while forming a battery with Jared Jones.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Pops three-run homer
Rotowire
Flores went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run Saturday against the Cardinals.
Flores gave the Pirates some breathing room when he went yard in the fifth inning of Saturday's win. He's been in roughly a 50-50 split for playing time behind the plate with Henry Davis over the last three weeks, while also picking up a handful of starts at first base. Flores has shown a boom-or-bust profile in that span, tallying six home runs with 15 RBI and nine runs scored across 15 games while also striking out at a 36.4 percent clip.
Pirates' Rafael Flores: Comes up big off bench Wednesday
Rotowire
Flores went 2-for-2 with two solo home runs in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Tigers.
The Pirates tried to give the red-hot Flores a breather by keeping him out of the lineup Wednesday, but the 25-year-old was summoned off the bench to pinch hit for Henry Davis in the seventh inning and took Jacob Waguespack deep to make it a 3-2 game. Two frames later, Flores homered again to tie it, this time off Detroit closer Kenley Jansen, setting the stage for Brandon Lowe's walk-off blast. Flores has gone yard five times in the last seven games, a sizzling stretch in which he's batting .435 (10-for-23) with 10 RBI.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Hitting bench after six straight starts
Rotowire
Flores is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Tigers.
Flores will hit the bench after he started in each of the last six games -- three at catcher, three at first base -- while going 8-for-21 with three home runs, one double, two walks, eight RBI and six runs. He should continue to see regular reps at first base against left-handed pitching as part of a platoon with the left-handed-hitting Spencer Horwitz, and Flores has performed well enough lately to earn more playing time behind the plate at the expense of Henry Davis, who has generated a lowly .426 OPS since the All-Star break.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Earning fourth straight start
Rotowire
Flores will start at first base and bat fifth in Sunday's game against the Red Sox.
Flores will draw his fourth consecutive start, two against right-handed pitchers and two versus lefties. With Spencer Horwitz occupying the strong side of a platoon at first base, Flores' main path to playing time will come behind the plate, where he could challenge Henry Davis for starts while Endy Rodriguez (hip) is on the shelf. Since coming off the injured list Aug. 1, Flores has done his part to earn more opportunities by going 7-for-22 with three home runs, two walks, eight RBI and three runs in seven games.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Goes yard again Friday
Rotowire
Flores went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Friday's 8-4 win over the Red Sox.
The 25-year-old rookie took Jake Bennett deep for a solo shot in the second inning -- per Aiden Stepansky of MLB.com, that made Flores just the fifth Pirate in the last 21 seasons to homer in three straight plate appearances, after he went yard twice Thursday. He's banged out five hits in those two contests, doubling his big-league total on the season, and through 14 games for the Bucs dating back to June 10 he's slashing .294/.400/.676 with four homers and 10 RBI while bouncing between first base and catcher.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Homers twice, drives in six
Rotowire
Flores went 2-for-5 with a pair of home runs and six total RBI in Thursday's 13-1 win over Miami.
Flores, making his second start in Pittsburgh's last five games, extended the Pirates' lead to 8-0 in the eighth inning with a three-run blast off John King before capping the scoring in the ninth with another three-run blast after Marlins third baseman Javier Sanoja took over on the mound. Coming into the day, Flores had just one homer through his first 12 games this season while going 1-for-15 in his last eight contests. He'll primarily serve as Henry Davis' backup behind the plate while Endy Rodriguez (hip) is sidelined.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Activated from IL
Rotowire
The Pirates reinstated Flores (concussion) from the injured list Saturday, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
After suffering a concussion last weekend, Flores is now fully recovered and will claim the roster spot vacated by Ryan O'Hearn (quad), who landed on the 10-day injured list Saturday. Flores has gone 4-for-15 with a homer, two RBI and two runs scored in the majors this year and will provide depth at catcher and first base.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Lands on concussion injured list
Rotowire
The Pirates placed Flores on the 7-day concussion injured list Friday.
It's unclear when Flores suffered the concussion, but he will be sidelined for at least the next week. With Endy Rodriguez (glute) starting a rehab assignment Friday, Flores is likely to be optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis once healthy.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Collects hit in return to majors
Rotowire
Flores went 1-for-4 on Thursday against Atlanta.
He was recalled Wednesday with Endy Rodriguez (lower body) on the injured list. Thursday marked Flores' third big-league game of the season and his second start, though he could have the chance to play a relatively even split with Henry Davis so long as Rodriguez is sidelined.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Moves up to majors
Rotowire
The Pirates recalled Flores from Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday.
Flores will provide the Pirates with an extra option behind the plate beyond Henry Davis after Endy Rodriguez (glute) was placed on the 10-day injured list in a corresponding move. The 25-year-old Flores -- who is also capable of playing first base -- was up with the Pirates for a brief spell in June and produced a pair of extra-base hits in his three at-bats. He's cobbled together a .233/.367/.345 slash line with four home runs and no stolen bases across 281 plate appearances at Triple-A this season.
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Pirates' Rafael Flores: Sent back to Indy
Rotowire
The Pirates optioned Flores to Triple-A Indianapolis on Saturday, Danny Demilio of PittsburghBaseballNow.com reports.
Flores went 2-for-5 and notched his first MLB home run during his brief run with the Pirates, but he'll head back to Triple-A now that Henry Davis has returned from paternity leave. Flores could return to Pittsburgh later in the season if the big club's catcher depth is tested again, though most of his time will likely be spent in the minors.
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