August 12: Shutouts, Comebacks, Ott Body Slam, JT, Angelo's Mask, Walker & Barmes...

Shutouts, Comebacks, Ott Body Slam, JT, Angelo's Mask, Walker & Barmes...

• 1915 - Al Mamaux tossed a three hitter in a 4-0 win over the NY Giants at Forbes Field, his eighth shutout of the year. Doug Baird led the offense, going 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Ralph Davis of the Pittsburg Press noted that Giant skipper John McGraw wasn’t in the coaching boxes, and asked a NY writer about his absence. He was told “Mac is disgusted with the bunch he is piloting this year...who are tied to long term contracts and not hustling.” 
• 1922 - The Pirates won their 13th game in a row by a 6-0 count over the Cincinnati Reds as Babe Adams tossed a whitewash at Forbes Field. The streak would end the next day when the Reds squeaked out a 5-4 win in 10 innings. 
• 1958 - The red hot Pirates beat the Braves 10-0 behind the two hit pitching of George Witt to move into second place‚ five games behind Milwaukee. 36‚867 Pirate fans jammed Forbes Field to see them win their 17th game of the last 22. 
• 1959 - It was 2-2 going into the seventh at Connie Mack Stadium, but Roberto Clemente would change that soon enough. The Phils’ Robin Roberts gave up back-to-back singles and a walk, but had gotten a K and foul pop and needed one more out to dodge a seventh inning bullet. He didn’t get that out from Clemente, who rifled a shot into left center for a bases-emptying triple, and then came in on Rocky Nelson’s knock through the left side. Harvey Haddix went the distance, giving up seven hits, for the 6-2 win. 
• 1966 - Pittsburgh beat the Reds 14-11 in 13 innings at Crosley Field, scoring in the ninth, tenth, eleventh and thirteenth frames before finally wresting the win from Cincinnati. There were 11 HR hit by the two teams, tying a MLB record. Going yard for the Bucs were Bob Bailey (2)‚ Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente‚ Jesse Gonder‚ and Jerry Lynch, his 18th pinch-hit bomb‚ a MLB record. Tommie Sisk pitched one-hit ball over the last two innings to earn the victory. 
• 1977 - Mets’ 2B Felix Millan suffered a broken collarbone compliments of Pirate catcher Ed Ott during a 6-5 Pirate victory at TRS‚ ending Millan's 12-year MLB career. Ott took out Milan on a hard slide into second, Milan responded with a shot to Ott’s face, and the Pirate catcher body slammed him. As for the game, the back end of a twin bill, the Bucs won in the 12th when Duffy Dyer chased home Rennie Stennett with two outs after a single and steal. Phil Garner had three hits and a homer in the win, which went to Larry Demery, who tossed two-hit ball over four innings. The opener was hard fought, too, with Jim Rooker hurling the Bucs to a 3-2 win while driving in two runs in the second with a two-out, bases loaded single after the Mets walked Dyer to get to him. 
• 1988 - Jose Tabata was born in El Tigre, Venezuela. JT came over from the Yankees in a 2008 trade featuring Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, and since 2010 has been in the show with various degrees of success after a promising rookie campaign, hampered by a variety of leg injuries. 
• 1995 - The Dodgers defeated the Pirates‚ 11-10‚ in 11 innings thanks to a brain cramp from a rookie. With the winning run at third base‚ Mitch Webster of the Dodgers swung at a pitch in the dirt to whiff. C Angelo (Eleutero) Encarnacion blocked the ball and then for some reason picked it up with his mask. LA manager Tommy Lasorda charged out of the dugout and appealed‚ citing a rule which awarded a runner two bases if a fielder uses his mask to touch a thrown ball. He was right and the umpires waved the winning run home. 
• 2012 - Clint Barmes' first career grand slam was the key blow in a nine run fourth inning while Neil Walker went 5-for-5 as the Pirates roared past San Diego 11-5 at PNC Park. The Bucs sent 14 batters to the dish in the fourth, their biggest inning since 2010. It ended an 11 game home losing streak to the Padres the day after the Bucs blew a six run lead to lose 9-8 to SD, prompting Clint Hurdle to say "We kind of felt we got slapped by our girlfriend in front of our mother..." Erik Bedard won over former Pirate Ross Ohlendorf.