6/23 From 1960: Saturday Nite Fever; Wild Finish; Big Inning; Game Stories

• 1961 - The Pirates raced out to a 9-0 lead and were up 11-2 after seven innings at Forbes Field, but ended up losing 12-11 in regulation to the Phils. Joe Gibbon, the starter, had his arm tighten up, so Clem Labine and ElRoy Face took over in the eighth, giving up four runs but still holding an 11-6 edge. Earl Francis took over in the ninth, and the Bucs committed four errors behind him, with the winning run scoring after LF Bob Skinner lost his footing fielding a single. All manager Danny Murtaugh could say was “This is the worst defeat I’ve had since I’ve been the Pirates manager.”
• 1973 - Another Saturday, another win, as the Bucs took their sixth straight Saturday contest by a 3-2 count over the Mets at TRS in 10 innings. Jeff Samuels of the Pittsburgh Press wrote “Every other day of the week they doddle somewhere between mediocrity and ineptitude. But on Saturdays, they’re killers. They play...like world champs.” They ran their Saturday streak to seven before the Dodgers dropped them in July, although in justice it must be noted that the club was 0-5 on that day before the victory run began. Manny Sanguillen was the hero of this one, singling home Gene Clines to make a winner of Ramon Hernandez, who was tossing in relief of starter Dock Ellis. In other news of the day, the Bucs announced they had signed their top draft pick, C Steve Nicosia, to a contract. 

Larry McWilliams - 1983 Donruss

• 1983 - The Bucs broomed the Cubs at TRS in a five game set by a 5-2 tally behind Larry McWilliams' five-hitter; both runs were unearned on his own first-inning error, dropping an inning-ending flip to first. Tony Pena had four hits; six other Pirates had hits in an otherwise balanced attack. The sweep wasn’t easy, with the first two wins being walk offs, and it was sweet revenge after Pittsburgh had lost a four game series at Wrigley Field two weeks earlier. The Bucs then swept the Cards in a four-gamer before coming back to earth. 
• 1995 - Denny Neagle won a duel with Pedro Martinez as the Bucs beat the Expos 2-0 at Olympic Stadium. Neagle surrendered just a pair of hits, with Mark Johnson and Nelson Liriano chasing home the Bucco runs. 
• 2004 - Pittsburgh beat the Astros 7-2 at Minute Maid Park on the strength of a two-out grand slam by Jason Kendall off David Weathers in the seventh. Ryan Vogelsong went six innings for the win. 
• 2005 - The Pirates jumped out to an 11-2 lead over the Cards and never looked back to take an 11-7 win. Humberto Cota led the way with three RBI, two on sac flies, but St. Louis was its own worst enemy, committing three errors to allow Pittsburgh seven unearned runs at Busch Stadium. Dave Williams got the victory and Rick White the save after he blunted a Redbird rally in the ninth. 
• 2013 - It ain’t over ‘til it’s over. Angel pitchers had sat down 16 straight Pirates and went into the ninth with a 6-3 lead at Angel Stadium with closer Ernesto Frieri on the hill. But the battlin’ Bucs tied the game on a double by Russell Martin and single by Starling Marte, both with two strikes and two outs. Then they scored four more in the 10th. But LA decided to not mail it in; they scored three times in their half off Bucco closer Jason Grilli and had runners on second and third with two out and Mike Trout up; Grilli got him swinging. Martin and Andrew McCutchen were scheduled for off days, but played the last two innings, going a combined 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI. It was also the MLB debut for a pair of Pirate rookies, C Tony Sanchez, who doubled in his first at bat, and RHP Duke Welker, who worked a frame and got his first big league punch out. It was a series sweep for the Pirates, their first road interleague sweep ever. As for Grilli and Frieri, they would be traded for each other a year later, both victims of the vagaries of relievers. 

Duke Welker's debut - photo Elsa/Getty

• 2015 - Cincinnati jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but the Pirates answered with their biggest inning in over a year, plating seven runs in the fourth against the Reds at PNC Park. The big blows were a three-run homer by Fran Cervelli and a two-run shot by Andrew McCutchen. Pittsburgh needed every one of those tallies, as the bats were shut down after that outburst. Tony Watson and Mark Melancon calmed the hot Redleg bats in the last two innings by ringing up six straight punch outs for the save of Rob Scahill’s 7-6 victory.