7/30 Games: Party Hearty, Christy's Skein Snapped, Ladies Day, Streaking, Game Stories

• 1904 - Baseball had some pretty rowdy roots. Per BR Bullpen: “Cardinals pitcher Jack Taylor walked seven and tossed three wild pitches to help the Pirates beat St. Louis, 5-2 at Exposition Park. The outcome was viewed suspiciously because several local gamblers had bet heavily on Pittsburgh before the game, but the real reason was Taylor and teammate Jake Beckley's late-night public drinking.” Pittsburg Press writer Ralph Davis did note dryly that “Taylor was not hit hard, but he was inclined to be wild.” Bucco hurler Roscoe Miller’s five-hitter may have played a role, too. It was the opener of a twin bill; the Pirates also took the nitecap behind Sam Leever 2-1. “Old Sam” even chipped in with a pair of hits, outdone only by Tommy Leach’s three knocks. 

Vic Willis 1909 American Tobacco

• 1909 - The Bucs ended NY Giant’s Christy Mathewson’s 13-game winning streak by a 3-1 score at Forbes Field. Tommy Leach doubled in Fred Clarke & Alan Storke, and Wee Tommy in turn was chased home by Dots Miller in the first. That’s all the support Vic Willis would need, scattering nine hits for the complete game win. 
• 1922 - Max Carey went deep twice as the Pirates beat the Giants 7-0 at the Polo Grounds. Carey hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning and then connected for another two-run blast as part of Pittsburgh’s 13-hit attack. Johnny Morrison went the distance for the Pirates, allowing seven hits in the shutout. 
• 1948 - Pittsburgh unleashed a four homer barrage against Brooklyn to take a 10-5 win at Ebbets Field. Wally Westlake hit for the cycle, while Max West, Monty Basqall and Clyde Kluttz homered to chase Dodger workhorse Ralph Branca. Bob Chesnes went the distance to claim the win. 

Bob Chesnes 1949 Bowman

• 1968 - The Bucs swept the Milwaukee Braves 8-5 and 5-4 at Forbes Field. In the opener, Donn Clendenon’s error led to three unearned Bravo runs, but the battery (and 8-9 hitters) of the Bucs, Milt May and Steve Blass, drove in a combined five runs to overcome the boot. There was a memorable bit of glovework to help make up when Roberto Clemente robbed Mike Lum. Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press wrote “Clemente took off in pursuit and ran as hard and as fast as he could. Just as he approached the wall, Clemente reached up and caught the ball, still with his back to the diamond. He crashed into the wall...and was stunned for a second but held the ball." The Great One didn’t start the evening match, but did rally and came on in the eighth inning. The second game went 10 innings before Manny Mota’s roller scored Matty Alou from third. Maury Wills and Clendenon each went 4-for-5 to help Ronnie Kline, who tossed 4-⅓ innings of shutout relief, to the victory. 
• 1975 - The Pirates had to delay the start of the game at TRS by 18 minutes to let the Ladies’ Day promotion crowd of 43,260 get to their seats. It was worth the wait as the Bucs pounced on the Phils’ Steve Carlton on the way to an 8-1 win. Jerry Reuss went the distance, as Manny Sanguillen had a big day, going 5-for-5 with a homer. Al Oliver (HR, 2B), Willie Stargell (2B) and Dave Parker (2B) each had two-hit days. There were 21 hits banged out between the clubs, but the game still took just 2:25 to play. 

Manny Sanguillen 1975 SSPC

• 2002 - Pittsburgh snapped a six game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park. The Bucs broke open a pitching duel between Kris Benson and the Rox’s Denny Neagle in the eighth, scoring three times with two outs. The rally was keyed by Adam Hyzdu’s two-run double. Mike Williams earned the save of Benson’s win. 
• 2006 - Pittsburgh concluded a five game winning streak by taking a 2-1, 10 inning victory from the SF Giants at PNC Park. Jose Castillo’s leadoff homer in the ninth forced the game into extras, and Jose Hernandez’s single in the 10th scored Jack Wilson with the tie breaker. Both starters, Zach Duke and Matt Morris, put up zeroes but were gone before the seventh was done, and it took 11 more pitchers to finish up what they had begun. 
• 2013 - The Pirates swept a doubleheader from the Cards by 2-1 and 6-0 scores at PNC Park to vault over them into first place in the NL Central. The opener went 11 innings, with the winning run scoring after Alex Presley’s apparent DP ball deflected off pitcher Kevin Siegrist’s glove and into left to plate Russ Martin. Vin Mazzaro got the win. The key blow in the nitecap was Andrew McCutchen’s two-run homer that bounced off Matt Holliday’s glove and into the second row of seats in left. Rookie Brandon Cumpton went seven frames for the win, tossing three hit ball. C Tony Sanchez took his MLB bow behind the dish and became one of seven Pirates to call a shutout in his first game; the last was Jason Kendall in 1996. 

Brandon Cumpton 2015 Topps

• 2014 - The San Francisco Giants broke a six game losing streak largely thanks to a DP via a walk. The Pirates, who had won three in a row, led 5-4 in the sixth when Chris Stewart drew a one-out walk with runners on second and third. Giant hurler Jean Machi got the ball back from the catcher and noticed Travis Snider had wandered off second base, apparently thinking it was a bases-loaded walk (he later admitted that was the case). Machi picked him off, and Gaby Sanchez, who was at third, was caught in the backwash and picked off, too. The Bucs went on to lose 7-5 at AT&T Park, wasting long balls by Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer.