4/27 From 1990: Game Tales - Hunter's 1st, Dewey Slam, Jose's 300th, Bo & 6 For Wally, Grilli ROTM, Matt Mo Goes; RIP Dick
- 1990 – Wally Backman became the first National League player in 15 years to get six hits in one game when the third baseman went 6-for-6 against the Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium during a 9-4 Pirate win. The Bucs banged out 19 hits, with Barry Bonds collecting four, including two homers and a double. Neal Heaton claimed the win, the Pirates eighth victory in nine games.
- 1991 – The Bucs had their way with the Mets at Shea Stadium, winning 10-1. Randy Tomlin and Bob Patterson combined on a four-hitter while a trio of Pirates had three hits – Bobby Bonilla, who had four RBI and a run scored, Spanky LaValliere, with two runs driven in and one scored, and Curtis Wilkerson, who plated three times. Pittsburgh took over sole possession of first place and never gave it back as they ran away with the division, winning it by 14 games.
- 1993 – Tim Wakefield threw 172 pitches in defeating Atlanta, 6-2, in 11 innings at Fulton County Stadium, and he didn’t even go the distance. He was relieved by Paul Wagner in the 11th after issuing a leadoff walk. It was the most pitches tossed by one pitcher in a single game during the nineties and the most ever by a Pirate. Fernando Valenzuela was the last to throw more pitches in a game back in 1987. The Pirates took command when Mike Stanton threw away a bunt by Wakefield in the 11th, leading to a pair of two-out knocks and four unearned runs.
- 2005 – Jose Mesa sat Houston down 1-2-3 in the ninth to save Kip Wells’ 2-0 victory. Wells went seven four-hit frames before Rick White and Mesa closed it out. It was Jose’s 300th career save, making Mesa the 19th pitcher in MLB history to reach that mark. Jason Bay and Jack Wilson chased home the runs at PNC Park, and Bay made the play of the game when he kissed the wall hauling in Morgan Enberg’s two-out drive to record the final out of Mesa’s historic save.
- 2008 – RHP Matt Morris, GM Dave Littlefield’s final swing-and-miss, was released by the Pirates after going 1-2/3 innings against the Phillies, giving up six runs on six hits. The 33-year-old compiled an 0-4/9.67 line in his five outings with Pittsburgh in 2008 and 3-8/7.04 line in his brief, 16-start Buc stint. He retired, but Pittsburgh ate $11,037,283 in salary, including a $1M buyout for 2009 as his going-away present. The Buccos replaced him by calling up RHP John Van Benschoten.
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| Matt Morris – 2008 Topps Update |
- 2010 – A five-run ninth inning, sparked by Ryan Doumit’s grand slam and Ronny Cedeno’s solo shot off Trevor Hoffman, ended the Pirates 22-game losing streak in Milwaukee as the Bucs took a 7-3 victory at Miller Park. The Brew Crew’s hometown hex over the Bucs was the longest held since the Browns/Orioles lost 27 consecutive contests to the Indians in Cleveland from 1952-54.
- 2013 – The Bucs overcame a 2-0 deficit against the Cards at Busch Stadium thanks to a four-run seventh, driven by Russ Martin’s two-run homer with a couple more runs set up by two walks and a bopped batter, to claim a 5-3 win. AJ Burnett started and won while Jason Grilli earned his 10th save of the month. It was Grilled Cheese’s 12th and final outing of a strong month – he was named April’s NL Reliever-of-the-Month, posting an 0.80 ERA, with 17 K in 11 IP while holding opponents to a .132 BA. He was the first Bucco to win that honor since Joel Hanrahan claimed the award in June, 2011.
- 2018 – The Pirates spotted the Cardinals a five run lead at PNC Park, then woke up late to rally for a 6-5 win. In the sixth, Gregory Polanco’s homer and Corey Dickerson’s sac fly made it 5-2, but the Pirates were stymied in the seventh and eighth. In the ninth, the first four Pirates reached and the game was knotted at five after Jordy Mercer’s two-bagger. He reached third with no one out, but a pop up and two whiffs left him stranded. The 10th went quietly and the Cards put up a zero in the 11th. But with two outs and David Freese at second via a walk and wild pitch, Starling Marte flicked a two-strike slider into center to walk off the win. The Bucco bullpen – Kyle Crick, Tyler Glasnow, Richard Rodriguez, Felipe Vazquez and George Kontos (who got the win) tossed 6-2/3 scoreless frames after Steven Brault had been banged around early. Fran Cervelli had three hits; Marte, Polanco and Corey Dickerson each had a pair to help fuel the comeback.
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| George Kontos – 2017 photo Pirates |
- 2018 – The state of New Jersey joined the Arriba fan club when it named the part of Route #21 running through Newark as the Roberto Clemente Memorial Highway. “As one would drive up and down the highway – you can see the number 21. It was almost screaming for it to be changed, (to) Roberto Clemente,” Luis Angel Maisonave of Newark’s Roberto Clemente Little League said.
- 2023 – Dick Groat passed away at the age of 92. The Swissvale HS star and WPIAL Hall-of-Famer was a two-time All America basketball player at Duke (he later played a pro season with the Pistons) who was named the Helms Player of the Year and had his #10 jersey number retired. He was also an AA for Blue Devil baseball, and was the first player enshrined in both the College Basketball and Baseball Halls of Fame. Branch Rickey got Groat to focus on baseball, and the shortstop spent 14 years with four clubs in MLB (1952-62 as a Buc, with a two-year military break). During his big league stay, he was an MVP, batting titleist, two-time World Series champ, eight-time All Star, record-setter with Bill Maz with five seasons of leading the league in double plays turned by two players, and a Pirates Hall of Famer. Dick was active locally outside the lines, too. He and Pirates teammate Jerry Lynch designed and built Champion Lakes Golf Course in Ligonier while Groat served a four decade gig as a color commentator for Pitt basketball.
- 2024 – After a hot start, the Pirates had lost nine of their last 11 games, scoring two or fewer runs in eight of them, and today’s match v the Giants at Oracle Park fit right into the trend. It was 1-1 after regulation thanks to a strong effort by Martin Perez when the Buc bats suddenly sizzled in the 10th, with Bryan Reynolds banging a two-run swat, followed two pitches later by Ke’Bryan Hayes’ solo shot. Although it was a Mt. Vesuvius-type eruption for the Bucs, it almost wasn’t enough, turning into a nail-biter after David Bednar (who had given up a three-run homer in losing the night before) allowed a two-run dinger and single before putting the game to bed, 4-3, with the Renegade sweating out his fifth save and Hunter Stratton posting his first MLB victory.
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2025/04/427-from-1990-game-tales-hunters-1st.html
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