7/24 From the 80’s: Big Batting; GI Jones RoM; Wandy Trade; Frankie-Strasberg; Petey River Landing

• 1984 - In a see-saw game at Montreal’s Stade Olympique (Olympic Stadium), the Expos rallied behind a two-out, ninth-inning double by Tim Raines off Kent Tekulve to tie the game 4-4 and send it into overtime. The Bucs apparently weren’t in the mood for any prolonged bonus baseball as six of the first seven batters in the 10th had hits with the coup d’ grace provided by Benny DiStefano’s two-out granny. The eight-run outburst carried the Pirates to an 12-5 win for Rod Scurry. Johnny Ray went 5-for-6, Dale Berra batted 4-for-5 with a walk and Tony Pena, who had three knocks and a walk, homered for Pittsburgh. 

Benny DiStefano 2005 Topps

• 2004 - The whole Pirate attack chipped in during a 14-4 romp over the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park. The Buccos had 11 batters with at least a hit and banged out six doubles as 10 different players scored and eight Pirates drove in runs. Jason Bay had three hits and three RBI while Jose Castillo scored four times to lead the attack. The Bucs scored seven times in the sixth to take control. Josh Fogg was chased early and five pitchers followed him, with John Grabow notching the win. 
• 2008 - The Bucs won their fourth in a row by hammering the Padres at PNC Park by a 9-1 score. Nate McLouth, Jason Bay and Xavier Nady homered while Yoslan Herrera tossed six scoreless frames to claim the win, his first in the majors. For the X-Man, it was his last Bucco blast - he was traded to the Yankees two days later. Yoslan Herrera tossed shutout ball for six innings, giving up six hits, to earn his first MLB victory. The streak had begun with a sweep of the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park; during their short winning string, the Pirates hit 10 homers and outscored Houston and San Diego by a 34-13 count. 
• 2009 - Garrett Jones went deep to right against Arizona’s Yusmeiro Petit for his 10th homer of the month in a 10-3 Bucco win at Chase Field. Called up July 1st, Jones hit ten home runs in his debut month and was named the NL's July Rookie of the Month. GI became the first Bucco to hit seven home runs in his first twelve games since Dino Restelli in 1949 and the first Pirate to hit 10 home runs in a month since Jason Bay in 2006. He had lots of help this day as the Bucs pounded out 16 hits (all eight starters chipped in at least a knock) and Zach Duke covered the first seven innings for the win. 
• 2012 - Wandy Rodriguez was traded by the Houston Astros with cash to the Pirates for minor league prospects RHP Colton Cain, LHP Rudy Owens and OF Robbie Grossman as the Bucs looked to shore up their stretch run rotation. Wandy ended up injury prone, and made just 31 starts with 11 wins as a Pirate until he was released in late May of 2014. Grossman has been playing as a reserve since 2013, Owens got one MLB start and has played in the Dominican & Indie leagues since 2015 while Cain never made it out of the minors. 

Wandy Rodriguez 2012 Topps Update

• 2013 - Francisco Liriano and Stephen Strasberg hooked up in a 1-0 battle, with the Pirates up, going into the ninth. Both starters turned the game over to the bullpens, and that’s when the fun started. The Bucs put up a three spot on Drew Storen, with Mike McKenry’s two run knock being the big blow, and Washington came back at Nationals Park to score a pair off Justin Wilson until Jason Grilli came to the rescue in a 4-2 Pirate win. The only score in the first eight frames came on a second inning homer by Pedro Alvarez. 
• 2015 - Last time out, Washington ace Max Scherzer no-hit the Bucs, losing his perfect game with two outs and two strikes in the ninth. Today was a different kettle of fish; the Buccos got homers from Pedro Alvarez (453’ and one bounce into the river), Gregory Polanco (after falling behind 0-2, fouling off six straight fastballs and taking 12 pitches) and Neil Walker (the first time Mad Max gave up three homers in a game since 2011) on their way to a 7-5 win, closed out by scoreless frames by Jared Hughes, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon in front of a full house of 38,371 at PNC Park. Scherzer had held Pittsburgh hitless for 14 straight innings until El Toro’s long ball in the second. That made it the longest hitless streak by a starting pitcher against one big-league team since Pittsburgh's Francisco Cordova threw 15 consecutive hitless innings vs. Houston in 1997.