Editing Pittsburgh Pirates (section)

===Interleague===
The Pirates play an annual [[Interleague play|interleague]] series against the [[Detroit Tigers]]. While the Pirates and Tigers only became "natural rivals" because the other AL and NL Central teams were already paired up, it has become popular with fans of both teams, possibly due to the rivalry between the [[National Hockey League]]'s [[Detroit Red Wings]] and [[Pittsburgh Penguins]]. The two teams have several other connections as well. The Tigers' AA Minor League affiliate, the [[Erie SeaWolves]], located near Pittsburgh, is a former affiliate of the Pirates and has retained the logo of a wolf wearing a pirate bandanna and eye patch. Additionally, Jim Leyland, former manager of both the Pirates (1986–1996) and the Tigers (2005–2013), remains popular in Pittsburgh where he resides. The Pirates led the regular-season series, 36–29. The two teams played in the [[1909 World Series]].

An on-and-off rivalry with the [[Cleveland Guardians]] stems from the close proximity of both cities, and features some carryover elements from the [[Browns–Steelers rivalry|longstanding rivalry]] in the [[National Football League]] between the [[Cleveland Browns]] and [[Pittsburgh Steelers]]. Because the Guardians' designated interleague rival is the Reds and the Pirates' designated rival is the Tigers, the teams have only played periodically.  The teams played one three-game series each year from 1997 to 2001 and periodically between 2002 and 2022, generally only in years in which the AL Central played the NL Central in the former interleague play rotation. The teams played six games in 2020 as MLB instituted an abbreviated schedule focusing on regional match-ups. Beginning in 2023, the teams will play a three-game series each season as a result of the new "balanced" schedule.  The Pirates lead the series 21–19.<ref>{{cite web |title=Head-to-head results for Cleveland Indians vs. Pittsburgh Pirates from 1901 to 2016 |url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/games/head2head-games.cgi?team1=CLE&team2=PIT&from=1901&to=2016 |work=Baseball-Reference.com |year=2016 |access-date=May 20, 2016 |publisher=Sports Reference |archive-date=December 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214154429/https://stathead.com/baseball/head2head-games.cgi?team1=CLE&team2=PIT&from=1901&to=2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>