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5/11 From 1975: Game Tales - Skenes Debut, Frankie's 1st, OT Wins, Ding, 11 Straight, Stratton Joins, AVS & JT POTW; HBD Ryder

Sunday, May 11, 2025 7:01

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1977 – The Bucs beat the Braves, 2-1, at TRS to stretch their winning streak to 11 games. John Candelaria left runners at second and third in the ninth with two down for Goose Gossage, who K’ed Rowland Office to save the win. The Candy Man was saved by a big hop. Darrel Chaney’s final-frame drive to left center hopped over the wall with Pat Rockett at first, and he would have scored easily if the ball had stayed in play, but instead had to stop at third where he died. Dave Parker extended his hitting streak to 22 games with two knocks, including a homer. Atlanta, which lost its 17th straight to Pittsburgh, had owner Ted Turner serving as manager. All the streaks ended the next day as the Buccos lost, Parker was shut down by Max Leon & Rick Camp, and Turner named third base coach Vern Benson manager until Dave Bristol returned as boss man a day later.
1982 – For the second straight week, 1B Jason Thompson won recognition as the National League Player of the Week. He went 11-for-20 with two homers and six walks with just three whiffs as part of a 17-game hitting streak (and 22-of-23 game string). It was an auspicious beginning to his only Pirates All-Star season as he compiled a line of .284 with 31 HR, 101 RBI and 101 walks.
1986 – It was a wild finish at TRS, with the Bucs rallying to take a dramatic 4-3 win from the Astros. The Bucs were up, 3-1, behind the arms of Big Daddy Rick Reuschel, Pat Clements and Cecilio Guante, backed up by a two-run homer by Jim Morrison until the ninth when the wheels began to wobble. Jim Winn gave up back-to-back dingers to knot the score, and Jose DeLeon had to clean up, stranding a pair of ‘Stros to keep it even. It stayed tied until the 12th frame. DeLeon was saved when Sid Bream’s leap speared a two-out, two-on bullet. Then came the surprise ending: Bill Almon lofted a fly up the right field line, OF’er Terry Puhl took a tumble chasing it down, and Bill touched all four sacks for the walk-off, inside the park winner. It was the first (and only) win of the year for DeLeon as a Bucco in ‘86, as he was traded to the White Sox to get Bobby Bonilla back in July; Bo had been lost to Chicago in the Rule 5 draft thanks to FO bungling.

Bob Walk – 1988 Score

1988 – Bob Walk and Fernando Villanueva hooked up in a duel at TRS that went 11 frames. The Bucs eventually took a 2-1 decision on Randy “Moose” Milligan’s two-out, two-strike double that chased Bobby Bonilla home for the victory. Pittsburgh tied the score late on Junior Ortiz’s eighth inning single. Both sides had plenty of chances to plate people; the Dodgers banged out 10 hits and stranded 10; the Pirates had nine knocks and drew 12 walks while leaving 17 runners on base. Moose had two hits, both two-baggers, and Junior added three raps, with Scott Medved earning the win. It was Buck Night at the ballyard and 26,367 fans showed up for the entertaining match.
1992 – The NL named CF Andy Van Slyke as its Player of the Week. AVS hit .452 with five runs scored, six RBI, a homer, four doubles and two triples to stake claim to the honor. Van Slyke kept on through the season; he hit .324, made the All-Star team and posted a career-high OPS+ of 150.
1993 – Ding dong: In the top of the seventh, Jay Bell led off the inning by grounding out to Phillies’ shortstop Juan Bell. The Pirate infielder was rung up by first base umpire Wally Bell. Sadly, the first baseman was spoilsport John Kruk, who may have been a bit dingy but still ruined the chime vibe. Nevertheless, the Pirates rang up an 8-4 victory at Veterans Stadium.
1995 – RHP Ryder Ryan was born in Huntersville, North Carolina. Cleveland drafted him in 2016 in the 30th round from UNC, traded him to the Mets the next year, and New York sent him to Texas in 2020. He signed with Seattle two seasons later and debuted in MLB in 2023, albeit for a one-inning outing. Ryder was outrighted off their 40-man after the season, opted for free agency and signed with the Bucs. He was a bit wild in camp but whiffed 10 batters in eight frames and made the club. Ryder won his first MLB game, slashing 1-0/3.00 in nine outings, but was optioned back to Indy in late April.

Ryder Ryan – 2023 photo/Pirates

1999 – Down 15-8 to the Astros in the 8th, Gene Lamont put C Keith Osik on the hill at the Astrodome. He walked two, fanned one, hit a batter and gave up two hits, allowing four runs in his inning. Houston belted out 10 doubles against five Pirate hurlers, with two off Osik. Osik would toss once more to save an arm, and finished his pitching days with a 40.50 ERA to confirm that choosing catcher for his primary position was a pretty wise career move.
2004 – The Pirates scored five times in the 12th inning to take a 15-10 slugfest victory from the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Craig Wilson was en fuego, with four hits, including two homers and a bases-loaded triple in the 12th, giving him seven RBI on the day. Two unlikely power sources, Bobby Hill and Tike Redman, also went deep for Pittsburgh. The clubs burned through 15 pitchers who gave up 38 hits. Salomon Torres got the win; his bacon was saved when Jose Castillo knocked down a ball in the 11th, then recovered to throw out Royce Clayton at home to preserve the deadlock and set the stage for Wilson.
2010 – Johnny Cueto came this close to no-hitting the Bucs; the only knock was a Ronny Cedeno grounder in the third that tipped off the shortstop’s glove in Cincy’s 9-0 laugher at PNC Park. Cedeno was later HBP and caught stealing; he was the only Pirate Cueto allowed aboard as he faced just 28 batters.
2013 – After sitting out with an off-season broken arm, Francisco Liriano got plenty of help in winning his first outing as a Pirate, an 8-2 victory over the NY Mets at CitiField. He lasted 5-1/3 IP and whiffed nine, supported by Jose Tabata’s 4-for-5 day. JT had a homer, double, three runs scored and three more runs driven home. Mike McKenry chipped in with another three RBI and Jordy Mercer banged out a pair of solo homers as the trio accounted for all the Buc runs.

Frankie Liriano – 2013 Topps Chrome

2016 – The Pirates rallied to defeat the Reds, 5-4, at Great American Ball Park. The Bucs had just four hits after eight innings, but they were all solo homers, launched by Andrew McCutchen, David Freese, Jung Ho Kang and Josh Harrison. Pittsburgh regained the lead in the ninth by going soft on an infield single by Kang who went to second on a throwaway, a bunt and a Jordy Mercer bloop into center that barely carried over the drawn-in second baseman. Tony Watson got the win and Mark Melancon stranded a pair for the save of a game started by Juan Nicasio. The Pirates tied a painful modern-era record: the never-shy Cincinnati pitchers plunked four Buccos during the contest.
2019 – The Pirates bought RHP Chris Stratton from the Los Angeles Angels. He was a first-round pick (20th overall) of the Giants in 2012, but couldn’t cut it as an MLB starter and the G-Men traded him to LA. The Angels used him as a swingman, then the Bucs converted Stratton to a full-time middle-relief guy and reaped the benefits as he became a solid bridge to the bullpen’s back end arms. He was rewarded in 2022 by becoming part of the late-inning, high leverage finishing crew before being moved to the St. Louis Cardinals. The year he arrived, 2019, saw the Bucs burn through 31 pitchers, with Chris and Mitch Keller the only two left on the roster by 2022. Chris was traded to the Cards at the ’22 deadline, leaving Mitch as the last man standing.
2024 – Pirate player movement continued. RHP Paul Skenes was officially added to the roster for his first MLB start and RHP Roansy Contreras, the major return piece of the Jameson Taillon deal with Yankees, was DFA’ed. IF Alika Williams’ option from yesterday lasted for just a few hours; 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes’ back tightened up on him, so Key was placed on the 10-day IL with inflammation and Alika was recalled to replace him. As for the game, Skenes did just OK, going four innings while giving up three runs on six hits with two walks and seven K after a pro-high 84 pitches (17 timed at 100+). Shelty let him start the fifth to qualify for a win, but after a pair of knocks, Skenes was yanked. Unfortunately his relievers blew a 6-1 lead in a NY minute. After a pair of whiffs, Buc relievers bopped a batter and then walked six Cubs with the bases loaded (Oddly enough, it was topped in 1959 when the White Sox drew eight bases-crammed walks against KC in the seventh inning). The frame ended with the game turned upside down and Chicago up, 8-6. But in the bottom half, the craziness continued as Yasmani Grandal popped a three-run blast. Earlier, Connor Joe had also banged a three-run drive, Michael Taylor swatted a two-run rocket & Oneil Cruz launched a solo shot, and that show of Corsair muscle flexing put the Bucs up 9-8. The final four innings played out a little more sanely, and with an Andrew McCutchen bomb as the fifth Pirates long ball, Pittsburgh hung on for a 10-9 dub. 34,924 fans saw Skenes’ debut at PNC Park in a game that took five hours+ due to a two-hour rain delay on a chilly, gray day.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2025/05/511-from-1975-game-tales-skenes-debut.html

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