10/7 Post-Season: 1972 NLCS Win Over the Reds But Otherwise A Bad Day At the Office

• 1903 - Game Five of the WS at Exposition Park was a pitcher's duel for the first five innings between Boston's Cy Young and Pittsburgh's Brickyard Kennedy. But in the top of the sixth, the Americans scored a then-record six runs and added four more in the seventh on the way to an 11-2 romp. Young went the distance and struck out four for his first World Series win.
• 1925 - Walter Johnson of the Senators struck out 10 Pirates during a 4-1 Washington victory in the opening game of the World Series at Forbes Field. Pie Traynor’s homer was the only dent against the Big Train, who surrendered just five hits. Lee Meadows took the loss.

Pie came up big; his teammates, not so much (1981 Cramer Baseball legends)

• 1927 - Herb Pennock took a perfect game into the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium before Pie Traynor broke it up with a one out single, followed by Clyde Barnhart double to bring him home. That was about all the local drama as the NY Yankees claimed an 8-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates to give the Yanks a 3-0 bulge in the World Series. It was actually a close game until NY scored six runs in the seventh, capped by Babe Ruth’s three-run bomb.
• 1972 - The Pirates scored three times in the first and and never looked back as they beat the Reds 5-1 in the NLCS opener at TRS. Al Oliver had a homer, triple, two runs scored and three RBI to give Steve Blass all the offense he’d need.
• 1975 - John Candelaria fanned 14 Reds at TRS, but Pittsburgh lost the NLCS finale 5-3 as Cincy swept the series three games to none. The Bucs got a two run homer from Al Oliver, but Ramon Hernandez was touched up for a pair of runs in the 10th inning to take the loss. The Reds went on to beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games to win the World Series.

Candy Man K'ed 14 in a losing effort (1981 Leaf Memories)

• 1992 - The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the NLCS with a 13-5 pounding of the Pirates at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Bucs threw seven pitchers at Atlanta, which banged out 14 hits, including a Ron Gant grand slam.
• 2013 - The Pirates were on the brink of eliminating the St. Louis Cardinals from the NLDC at PNC Park, but the Redbirds rode Michael Wacha’s arm to a 2-1 win and a showdown game at Busch Stadium. The Cards drew first blood when Matt Holliday hit a two run homer in the sixth off Charlie Morton. Pittsburgh halved the gap in the eighth when they got their first and only hit, a 438’ bomb by Pedro Alvarez, to make it 2-1. But both bullpens were in shutdown mode, and that score stood. 40,893 fans showed for the third consecutive post-season game to set a park attendance record. The Cardinals set a playoff record as all three of their pitchers (Wacha, Carlos Martinez and Trevor Rosenthal, who got the save) were 23 or younger.
• 2015 - The Bucs were one-and-done in the 2015 playoffs, losing the wild card game to the Chicago Cubs 4-0. The Cubs scored early off Gerrit Cole as the top of the order, Dexter Fowler and Kyle Schwarber, went 5-for-6 ensemble against Cole Train, accounting for all four runs and each pounding a homer. The Pirates big opportunity came in the sixth when they loaded the bases with an out, but a bullet off Starling Marte’s bat, with an exit speed of 109 MPH, was an at ‘em ball to short, resulting in a rally-crushing DP. Jake Arrieta held the Bucs to four hits with 11 K in a complete game win. 40,889 fans were at the game, setting a PNC record to watch the 98-win Pirates face off against the 97-win Cubs; the Cards won the division with 100 victories.

Starling's bad luck bullet turned into the final nail (2015 Stadium Club)