6/20 TRS-PNC Park Era: HBD Mack, Hebner's Big Days, 1-0 Wins, Game Stories

• 1971 - Richie Hebner homered, doubled and had four RBI while Pops Stargell went long in a 7-1 win over Montreal at TRS in the opener of a twin bill. Steve Blass went the distance for the victory. Stargell hit a grand slam (one of four in the majors on this day) and Al Oliver went 4-for-4 to lead the Pirates to a 7-3 sweep over the Expos in the second game with Nellie Briles earning the W.
• 1976 - Rob Mackowiak was born in Oak Lawn, Illinois. A 53rd round draft pick in 1996, he played five years (2001-05) for the Pirates, hitting .259. 2004 was his most memorable season, when he had a career high of 17 home runs and 75 RBI. He had a career day on May 28th during a DH against the Cubs at PNC Park, hitting a walk-off grand slam in the first game and a game-tying 9th inning home run in the second game, on the same day that his son was born.

Big Mac Attack 2002 Fleer Ultra

• 1983 - The Bucs swept the Cubs at TRS, taking a 5-4 ten-inning triumph in the opener and a 6-5 thirteen-inning win in the nightcap. Richie Hebner’s pinch hit homer against Bill Campbell to lead off the 10th gave Kent Tekulve the win in the first game; Jason Thompson also homered. The Cubbies made the second game exciting by scoring twice in the ninth on a two-out single by Ron Cey off Don Robinson. The potential lead run was cut down at the plate when Robby retrieved an errant throw home and got the ball to Steve Nicosia in time to nail Bill Buckner. Robinson later settled in and tossed shutout ball the rest of the way, getting the win when Marvell Wynne singled home Dale Berra to broom Chicago. Berra, Lee Lacy and Jim Morrison went long during the contest, with Berra collecting four hits.
• 1993 - The Pirates scored twice in the ninth to edge the Mets 3-2 at TRS. After an intentional walk to Jeff King loaded the bases, John Franco walked in the tying run, losing Kevin Young on a 3-2 pitch. The next batter, Don Slaught, singled home the winner after Franco fell behind him 2-0. Stan Belinda won in relief of Steve Cooke.
• 2008 - The Buccos outlasted Toronto 1-0 in 12 innings at PNC Park. Tyler Yates, the last of four Buc pitchers, tossed two innings for the win. Pittsburgh claimed the W when SS John McDonald couldn't come up cleanly with Jason Michaels' weak bases loaded grounder, scoring Doug Mientkiewicz. The two teams combined to strand 21 runners during the game.

Tyler Yates (Photo Day - Getty Images)

• 2010 - The Pirates won their second in a row from the Indians 5-3 at PNC Park when they scored twice in the bottom of the eighth on a Pedro Alvarez sac fly and Bobby Crosby knock. Pittsburgh had lost twelve consecutive games before the modest streak, and began a six game losing streak after the contest. June 20, 2013 - Pedro Alvarez smacked a single, double and homer to chase home five runs in the Bucs 5-3 win over the Reds in front of nearly 41,000 fans at GABP. Brandon Cumpton started, reliever Bryan Morris came away with the win and Tony Watson claimed the save as St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh continued their combat in the NL Central. The division rivals had the three best records in the major leagues on this day and were separated by four games.
• 2015 - Max Scherzer no-hit the Bucs at Nationals Park and came within a strike of tossing a perfect game. With two outs in the ninth and an 0-2 count on Jose Tabata, a mini-battle began with JT fouling off several pitches. With the count 2-2, Scherzer tried to sneak a slider past Tabata; it backed up a bit and clipped JT on the elbow pad to spoil the perfecto. Josh Harrison flew out to the track in left to end it, with Washington claiming a 6-0 win.

Erik Kratz (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

• 2016 - The Pirates took an unlikely 1-0 victory from the SF Giants at PNC Park. Jeff Locke, who had given up 18 runs in his previous two starts, pulled a U-turn and tossed 6-⅔ IP of five hit ball against Giant ace Madison Bumgarner, who was on a seven game winning streak and entered the game with a 1.91 ERA. Additionally, the Bucs were on a five game losing streak while the G-Men had claimed eight straight wins. The winning blow was a homer by C Erik Kratz, who was hitting .045, a drive to left that Angel Pagan’s leap had momentarily gloved, only to lose the ball as he crashed down into the fence.