6/4 Games: Top O' The Order, Heads-Up Vince, Bonds Peres Et Fils, Roberto Power, Foli's Big Day & More

• 1930 - Charlie Engel, Fred Brickell and George Grantham batted 1-2-3 for the Bucs, going 8-for-13 with a homer, two doubles, a walk, three RBI and 10 runs scored to propel Pittsburgh to a 12-6 win over the Brooklyn Robins at Ebbets Field. Larry French went the distance for the victory.
• 1943 - Up by a run in the eighth, the Bucs’ Vince DiMaggio singled and New York P Bill Sayles’ next pitch got past C Ernie Lombardi. The lead-footed Giant receiver was slow chasing the ball, Sayles didn’t cover home, and DiMag kept on truckin' to score from first on the passed ball. It ended up the winning run as the Pirates took a 9-8 victory at Forbes Field. Vince had two hits including a homer, scored twice and had three runs driven home.

Vince DiMaggio 1942 Play Ball

• 1948 - In a game described by beat writer Vince Johnson of the Post-Gazette as “...a circus, except the clowns didn’t wear grease paint and weren’t even faintly amusing. An overflow crowd of 37,355 watched what was undoubtedly the silliest and longest spectacle of the season” in reporting on the Bucs 10-7 loss to the Braves at Forbes Field. The umps started the day off when the crew chief overruled a balk call, leading to a lengthy on-field rhubarb and a protest by Boston. It was later capped by a five-walk seventh inning in which Bucco hurlers gave up seven runs. Ralph Kiner and Clyde Kluttz homered for the Pirates during the interminably long (for the era) contest that lasted three hours and 12 minutes.
• 1967 - Roberto Clemente hit two home runs and drove in all four runs in a 4-1 Pirate victory at Dodger Stadium. Both blasts were hit off Don Drysdale, the first long balls that he surrendered this season. The last four-baggers he gave up were against Clemente and Willie Stargell, who went back-to-back on him on September 15th, 1966. Bob Veale threw a five-hitter for the win, saved by ElRoy Face.
• 1968 - The Bucs were on the wrong end of a record or two during a 5-0 loss at LA. Tossing his sixth consecutive shutout‚ Don Drysdale topped Doc White's 64-year-old mark of five shutouts‚ and with 54 scoreless innings, he broke Carl Hubbell's NL string of 49 goose egg frames. In his next game, Drysdale would set the MLB mark at 58-2/3 scoreless frames. Drysdale was on top of his game, tossing a three-hitter and fanning eight. Jim Bunning took the loss. Gary Kolb was the only Bucco to get past first base with a sixth inning double.

Tim Foli 1981 Topps

• 1981 - In his first game as a Cub, Bobby Bonds (Barry’s dad) lasted an inning before breaking his hand after tumbling over a loose seam at TRS. The Tim Foli ball he was chasing fell for a triple and became a big run as Foli scored and the Bucs went on to defeat the Chicago club 5-4 in 10 innings. Lee Lacy tallied the winning run when he tripled and scored on Dale Berra’s bloop to earn a win for Kent Tekulve. Foli had four hits and was a homer shy of a cycle while Dave Parker added three more raps including a homerun with two runs scored and three chased home.
• 1986 - Barry Bonds went 4-for-5 and hit his first MLB home run off Craig McMurtry to lead the Bucs to a 12-3 romp over Atlanta at Fulton County Stadium. Bonds scored three times and drove in four runs. RJ Reynolds had two hits including a long ball as Mike Bielecki, with help from Jim Winn, got the win.
• 2014 - Pirate pitchers gave up one hit, a first inning bunt single, but still managed to lose to San Diego at Petco Park by a 3-2 count. The Padre runs came on a miscommunicated sac pop fly, an error and a bases loaded walk, one of nine that Pirate hurlers issued. Francisco Liriano took the loss, walking six batters with a HBP in his first four frames (he went six innings). The last time the Pirates threw a one-hitter and lost was July 25th, 1992 at Atlanta. That hit was a second inning homer by David Justice, the only tally in a 1-0 Bravo win.