5/28 From 1960: Memorable Mack; Roberto Riled; Bay Six Pack; Game Stories; HBD Alex

• 1960 - More Destiny’s Darlings lore: Roberto Clemente was on third and Hal Smith on first with two outs in the eighth with Maz up at Forbes Field. He fanned on a ball that hit in the front of the plate, ricocheted off ump Al Barlick and straight to Phillies pitcher Jim Owens. Maz froze, Smith jogged to second and Clemente went halfway down the baseline. Owens chased Roberto as his bench called for him to throw to first, which he either didn’t hear or ignored. In the run-down‚ Clemente knocked the ball out of C Jim Coker's glove to score the tying run. The Pirates won 4-2 in the 13th on Don Hoak's two-run HR. 

Roberto was involved in some antics OTD - 2018 Upper Deck

• 1963 - Called out at first on a close play for the second time in the game‚ Roberto Clemente twice jostled ump Bill Jackowski while arguing the decision. Clemente was ejected‚ and skipper Danny Murtaugh got his Irish up, challenging the man in blue to duke it out until he was pulled away. The Great One was fined $250 and suspended for five days by the league. To top the day off, the Pirates lost 5-1 to the Phils at Forbes Field. 
• 1977 - OF/1B Alex Hernandez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Alex was taken by Pittsburgh in the fourth round of the 1995 draft and spent two campaigns in Pittsburgh, getting into 27 games and hitting .183 in 2001-02. He spent his last couple of seasons playing indie ball and in the Puerto Rican Winter League before retiring in 2006. 
• 1988 - The Pirates whipped the Reds 5-2 at Riverfront Stadium behind an unstoppable leadoff man Barry Bonds. BB went 2-for-2 and was walked three times, scoring three runs with a RBI to rev the Bucco engine. Bobby Bonilla and Darnell Coles both added a single and double to help Bob Walk to the win with a Bob Kipper hold & Jeff Robinson save. 
• 1990 - Memorial Day seemed like it was going to be more memorable for Dodger pitcher Tim Belcher, who was working on a one-hitter through eight innings at TRS, than anything the Bucs would do. But in the end, the Pirates provided the holiday fireworks, scoring five times in the ninth off two Dodger relievers to take an improbable 6-5 win from LA. The Bucs trimmed the lead to 5-3 and loaded the bases with two down in the final frame. Jose Lind spanked a 3-2 liner through the right side and RF’er Hubie Brooks tried to cut down the tying run, Gary Redus, at the plate. The throw was up the line and C Mike Scioscia tried to pick the ball and swipe the runner. It didn’t pan out; he missed the throw entirely and it rolled to the back wall, allowing Don Slaught to lumber in from first to plate the game winner for Bill Landrum, who had worked the ninth for Pittsburgh. 

• 2004 - In the lidlifter of a twin bill, utilityman Rob Mackowiak smacked a two-out, walk-off grand slam for a 9-5 Pirates victory barely nine hours after his wife, Jennifer, gave birth to their first child, Garrett Matthew. Chicago’s Matt Clement had a tough outing with a wild pitch and plunks of Bobby Hill, Jason Kendall and Craig Wilson in the fifth frame of the opener (the three HBP in an inning tied the modern era MLB record), opening the gates to a four-run frame. In the second game, Mack drilled a two-run shot in the ninth, the 500th homer at PNC Park, into the same right center field seats as the one he hit three hours earlier to send the nitecap into extra innings, later won by Craig Wilson’s 10th inning homer, for a 5-4 sweep of the Cubs. It was the first time since 1967 that a doubleheader was won by walk-off homers. 
• 2006 - The Pirates lost to the Astros 5-4 at PNC Park. Houston scored four times in the ninth off three different Pirate pitchers to tie the game, then won it in the tenth on a Preston Wilson knock off Salomon Torres. The game did have a bright side. Jason Bay homered off Fernando Nieve in the fourth inning to run his consecutive game HR streak to six contests, the second longest in Pirate history after Dale Long’s 1956 eight-game streak. It started on the 22nd against Arizona’s Orlando Hernandez. Bay had a pair of bombs on the 20th, too, giving him nine home runs in eight games. 
• 2011 - Four Pirates (Andrew McCutchen, Lyle Overbay, Chris Snyder and Ronnie Cedeno) went long as Pittsburgh whipped the Cubs 10-1 at Wrigley Field. Paul Maholm tossed a three-hitter for the complete game victory. 
• 2013 - The Bucs rode strong pitching and an 11th-inning home run by Neil Walker off Jose Ortega to edge the Tigers at Comerica Park 1-0, despite striking out 14 times. Jeanmar Gomez and Rick Porcello started the game while Jason Grilli finished it in style with swinging strikeouts of Motown’s Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder in order to earn his 21st save and Mark Melancon’s first win as a Pirate.