5/3 TRS-PNC Park Era: Turner's Tumble, Gunner, Smith Gem, EriK, Walk-Offs, Polecats & A Long Series

• 1985 - The Gunner, Bob Prince, returned to the booth after a 10 year absence (he had been fired by KDKA). Prince got a standing ovation from the crowd, and when he took over the mic in the fourth frame, the Pirates erupted for nine runs, earning him another O after the inning. It was a short comeback as The Gunner died of cancer on June 10th.
• 1986 - A skunk wandered onto the field at San Diego in the 7th inning at Jack Murphy Stadium and held up the Padres-Pirates game for several minutes. It was rumored that a family of polecats lived under the stadium‚ feeding on peanuts and other fan debris; guess that’s one rumor that proved true. It was the Bucs who stunk out the joint early on, but they scored three times in the eighth and added the game winner in the ninth to skunk the Padres‚ 7-6.

Zane Smith 1991 Upper Deck

• 1991 - The Pirates defeated the Astros 1-0 in a one hour‚ 45 minute contest at TRS‚ the NL's shortest nine inning game since 1981. Zane Smith threw a complete game four hitter while Pete Harnisch went the distance and gave up only two knocks, one being Orlando Merced’s first homer of the year in the third inning. Harnisch threw 89 pitches and Smith 92 during the contest.
• 1998 - Turner Ward literally crashed through the right field wall at Three Rivers Stadium while running down Mike Piazza’s long fly in a 10-5 loss to the Dodgers. And yes, he hung onto the ball in a play that is still considered one of the great all-time MLB catches and an ESPN go-to clip, though he had to leave the game with bruises and some fiberglass splinters. The kid was a gamer; he crashed through the wall while LA was ahead 9-0.

And the walls came tumblin' down (image MLB.com)

• 1999 - The Bucs scored four times in the ninth on homers by Warren Morris and Brian Giles and a two-out walk off single by Brant Brown off reliever Robb Nenn to surge past the Giants 9-8 at TRS. Giles had three hits and five RBI while Jason Kendall went 5-for-5 with a pair of doubles.
• 2012 - The Pirates set a club mark by striking out 17 in nine innings during their 6-3 win over the Cards at Busch Stadium. Erik Bedard did the heavy lifting, whiffing 11 in five frames and setting a franchise record with seven consecutive K’s. Four Pirate relievers added six more K in the final four innings. Jason Grilli and Joel Hanrahan picked up a pair of punchouts apiece in the eighth and ninth.
• 2014 - Despite making four errors and falling behind 5-0, the Pirates scored six times against the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh and eighth innings to claim an 8-6 victory at PNC Park. Jordy Mercer’s two out double on an 0-2 pitch tied the game with two outs in the seventh, and Neil Walker’s two-bagger off the top of the center field wall in the eighth chased home the game winners. Mark Melancon picked up the save of Bryan Morris’ third win.

Neil Walker 2014 Topps

• 2015 - The Bucs ended one of the most frustrating series in their history by losing their third straight extra inning, walk-off contest to the Cardinals by a 3-2 score after a pair of 2-1 losses. The Bucs had the lead in the 12th thanks to a Pedro Alvarez homer, but Radhames Liz gave up a run in the St. Louis half and a homer to Kolten Wong in the 14th to absorb the defeat. The Pirates scored just four runs in 35 innings against the Redbirds, stranding 37 runners while going 2-for-25 with RISP. The Cardinals swept a three-game series with all the wins coming in extra innings for the first time in franchise history and became the first team to do so since June of 1925, when the Cincinnati Reds broomed the Boston Braves in overtime.