7/2: HBD, Fred & Nyjer; Bay's 8 RBI Day; Lotsa HR's; Middle of the Order On Fire...

• 1864 - C and utilityman Fred Carroll was born in Sacramento, California. In his seven years (1885-91) with Pittsburgh teams, he played for the Alleghenys, the outlaw Burghers and the Pirates, hitting .284 over his career. A bit quirky, at the beginning of the 1887 season Carroll buried his pet monkey, which had served as an unofficial team mascot for the squad, under home plate at Recreation Park in a pre-game ceremony.
• 1889 - The Pittsburg Press front page headline read “Poor Phillies” as Pittsburgh took their fifth straight win from their cross-state rivals by a 10-5 score. The Alleghenys scored nine times in the last two innings on six hits (five singles and a double), abetted by two walks, two “muffs” and two “wild throws,” per the Press. Fred Carroll and Jocko Fields had three hits each and Harry Staley got the win in front of 1,500 fans at Exposition Park.
• 1925 - The Bucs edged the Cards 2-1 at Forbes Field as Tom Sheehan outpitched Dolf Luque. Kiki Cuyler tripled home Max Carey and was brought home by Clyde Barnhart in the sixth for the Pirate scores. It marked the capstone of a NL record 150 game scoring streak that began on July 4th, 1924, as the Reds Pete Donahue shut them out the next day 8-0.
• 1927 - The Bucs score twice in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to beat the Reds 7-6 at Forbes Field after trailing 6-1. The clinching blow was Clyde Barnhart’s two-run homer to left in the ninth off Art Nehf. Mike Cvengros tossed six shutout innings of relief for the win.

Mike Cvengros image from tnfotos Baseball Fotos

• 1949 - The Cubs and particularly Andy Pafko had a bad day at Wrigley Field, losing 8-3. Pafko hit into a bases loaded triple play in the third inning. He was called out in the dugout after Pete Castiglione at third knocked down his liner (actually, it popped out of his mitt), tagged the runner at third, then stepped on the base for the force. In the confusion, he then threw the ball home, and the catcher went to first for the force on Pafko, who thought his drive had been caught cleanly and was wandering his way to the bench. Even the umps had to step back to review the whole thing, but it stood. Ralph Kiner hit his 20th homer as Tiny Bonham picked up the win.
• 1960 - The Pirates fell behind the Dodgers 3-2 in the 10th at Forbes Field, but used the blazing feet of Joe Christopher and Roberto Clemente to pull out a 4-3 win. With two down in the extra frame and Christopher on second, Clemente beat out a ball hit to Maury Wills, and Christopher sped home from second on the infield hit to tie the game by just getting under Gil Hodge’s throw home (it was so close that C Johnny Roseboro got into it with plate ump Al Barlick). Dick Stuart followed with a bloop to right, and The Great One covered three bases on the short hit, scoring easily as Frank Howard’s toss home went wide. Gino Cimoli had a two-run single to get the game into extras, and Fred Green got the win. The victory gave the Bucs a 7-0 record in extra inning games in the season and 26-2 in the past two years.

Gino Cimoli 1961 Topps 1960 WS set

• 1961 - In the eighth inning, pinch hitters Johnny Logan, Rocky Nelson and Smoky Burgess banged out consecutive hits, a Pirate record, to prime a four run rally that led to a 7-6 win over the Giants at Forbes Field in the opener of a twin bill. Hal Smith added three RBI. The Bucs swept easily, rolling 9-0 in the nitecap behind Bobby Schantz’s five hitter and three RBI each from Roberto Clemente and Don Hoak.
• 1976 - Bill Robinson’s pinch-homer game in the 10th inning gave the Pirates a 10-9 win over Philadelphia on the first ever Fireworks Night at TRS. The Zambelli’s didn’t provide the only boomers. Robinson’s blast was one of three home runs for the Bucs as Willie Stargell connected for a homer in the first inning and Richie Hebner went deep in the eighth. The Bucs almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, blowing an early 6-0 lead before long-balling their way to the win. 
• 1980 - OF Nyjer Morgan was born in San Francisco. He hit .286 from 2007-09 for the Bucs and then became part of the Joel Hanhrahan deal with Washington.

Tony Plush 2008 Topps Rookie card

• 2002 - The Pirates were run over by the Brewers at PNC Park by a 12-6 count, but did their share to help break the MLB record for homers hit in a day when 53 batters blasted 62 long balls. The Bucs hit four - Kevin Young, Jack Wilson, Abraham Nunez and Adam Hyzdu all went long in the loss. For Wilson, Nunez and Hyzdu, it was their first home run of the season.
• 2004 - Jason Bay drove in eight runs with a homer and three doubles as the Bucs mashed the Brewers 13-2 in the nitecap of a DH sweep at PNC Park. Pittsburgh won the opener 8-1 behind Ollie Perez, who punched out 11, and four RBI from CF Tony Alvarez, who homered and doubled.
• 2012 - The middle of the Pirate order was on fire against the Astros at PNC Park, leading the way to an 11-2 win. Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones, Neil Walker and Casey McGehee went 12-for-20 with five doubles, two homers, nine runs scored and 10 RBI. James McDonald got the win with help from Jared Hughes.