WASHINGTON -- Struggling Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Jonathon Niese will try to get on track in the bullpen after being removed from the starting rotation.Pirates manager Clint Hurdle announced the decision to demote Niese to the bullpen on Friday before the team opened a three-game series at the Washington Nationals. Niese is 7-6 with a 5.13 ERA in 18 starts this season after Pittsburgh acquired him from the New York Mets for second baseman Neil Walker.We felt at this time to get him unplugged, to get a different look might help him moving forward, Hurdle said. We told him this wasnt a banishment out of the rotation for good. Were just unplugging him, putting him in the bullpen for right now, see where that can take us.Niese, 29, has allowed 20 home runs, struck out 71 and walked 36 in 101 2/3 innings. A groundball pitcher, he allowed 20 home runs all last season and is two away from tying a career high.Niese said he understood the decision but didnt expect it.Id rather start, obviously. Its where my hearts at, Niese said. I knew the rotation was getting pretty crowded. ... I knew something was going to happen. I was certainly hoping it wasnt me to get bumped. It is what it is. I understand the results werent there in the first half.During a radio appearance Friday morning, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said in hindsight that taking two fringe prospects from the Mets might have been a better return for Walker than Niese, who has not worked out as planned.Given the thinness of the starting pitching market, given the dollars that we had available, we felt that that was our best return and it has not played out that way and thats a challenge, Huntington said on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. We own that. We accept that.Huntington said that based on the Pirates young pitchers hed potentially be interested in trading a veteran, which could mean Niese, fellow lefty Jeff Locke or both.One of those young pitchers is ready to return as Gerrit Cole will be active off the disabled list to start Saturday. Cole, 25, had been out with a strained right triceps muscle.Cole said he doesnt know if there will be any limitations on him in his first start back.Im just excited to not sit on the sidelines all of the time, he said. Im sure theyll take it inning by inning. See how the game is unfolding.Chad Kuhl is lined up to pitch Sunday, and Huntington said top prospect Jameson Taillon could get another start during next weeks series against the Milwaukee Brewers.Jalen Ramsey Jersey .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. Gardner Minshew II Jaguars Jersey . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. 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Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999.RIO DE JANEIRO -- With Neymar in a courtside seat cheering his countrymen, Wallace pumped his arms and let out screams from deep in his lungs as Brazil fed off the energy in raucous Maracanazinho arena.Over and over again he celebrated each point that got his team closer to an Olympic title.Brazils determined mens volleyball team gave the hosts another sensational gold right next door to where Neymar and Co. did it less than 24 hours earlier in a thrilling penalty shootout against 2014 World Cup champion Germany.Brazil beat mighty Italy 25-22, 28-26, 26-24 on Sunday for the home teams first Olympic title in 12 years since a championship at Athens in 2004.As the delirious home crowd hung out to watch the medal ceremony, fans danced in the stands and chanted Campeao! Campeao! -- or, Champion, Champion!Wallace wiped his still-sweaty brow as the Brazilian flag was raised and the national anthem began. He started singing. They all did, with tears of joy, right along with every last Brazilian in the arena.Its really special, especially winning in our own home it leaves a really good taste, Brazils William said. Its a whole life of work and this is our result. We are very happy for this.At the very end, Sergio grabbed the microphone and expressed his gratitude to thousands inside and millions elsewhere, thanking the adoring crowd and telling all the fans how much he cherishes wearing Brazils yellow shirt on his chest.Then, he and the champion Brazilians took a victory lap and celebrated some more. They capped the final day of the Rio de Janeiro Games with a memorable, emphatic volleyball victory.That heartbreaking silver from London four years ago, forget about it. Brazil won on its own soil, as a captivated country watched with pride on the final day of the Rio Olympics.Neymar threw his hand up in triumph when the Brazilians grabbed the hard-fought second set, then jumped to his feet on each of the two match points Brazil needed to finish it. The monster block! tune that played all tournament sounded once more after Lipes last play. He sprinted to the end of the floor and slid on his knees, arms raised to the sky.Bruno rushed to Neymar for an embrace, while Lucas also ran to the stands to hug a supporter before holding Sergio in his arms and fighting tearrs.ddddddddddddNeymar was hardly the only one enthralled in a chanting, flag-waving, hand-shaped thunderstick-pounding arena that became a sea of yellow, green and blue.The Brazilian men won for a volleyball-crazed country when Fabiana and the two-time defending womens winner from Brazil fell to eventual champion China in a five-set quarterfinal Tuesday.Brazils men avenged a loss to Russia in the 2012 London Games gold-medal match with a straight-set victory Friday night, then carried that momentum -- and rode the energy of their huge crowd -- to the top spot of the Olympic podium.Italy came oh-so-close in London earning bronze, and then again just short in Rio. Now, the Italians are left to try again for their first volleyball gold in Tokyo 2020. This one went far too fast for the Italians taste.The Brazilians reached their fourth straight Olympic title match and finally came out champions once more. Even sweeter to reach the gold-medal match by knocking down the Russia team that beat them for gold in London.The stunned Italians -- in tears as they watched the wild celebration unfold -- had outlasted the United States in a five-set semifinal that went down as an instant Olympic classic, then the Americans bounced back to earn the bronze medal earlier Sunday by rallying from two sets down to defeat Russia in five.Brazils fans cheered Italy, too, yelling I-tal-ia! as the team accepted silver. Ivan Zaytsev clapped his hands in the air in appreciation of the gesture.I smiled when I heard the anthem of Brazil before the match, Italys Matteo Piano said. It was something special, all of Maracanazinho singing and screaming.Moments before stepping up to accept their gold medals, Brazils players bounced up and down, some signaling hearts to the stands with their fingers, others waving to every section in the place as U.S. captain and bronze medalist David Lee used his phone a few feet away to capture the incredible spectacle.The Brazilians then grabbed Sergio and tossed him in the air, time and time again. The fitting gesture for a national team treasure and beloved libero in what likely was his last Olympics.What a way to go out. ' ' '