7/17 From 1980: Morris-Loaiza; 9-In-A-Row; ASG's; Game Stories; HBD Brian

• 1982 - RHP Brian Rogers was born in Dallas, Texas. He joined the Pirates in 2006 after a trade with Detroit for Sean Casey and was called up at the end of August. He didn’t fare very well, and was sent to the minors the following campaign, getting three more not-so-successful outings with the big club and finishing his career with a slash of 0-0/9.28 in 13 games. Rogers was released in mid-June of 2008 and got short minor-league stints with the Tigers and Mets to end his pro career at age 25. He then went to work for a resort in Hawaii, got his degree and is now an account manager.

JT - 1983 Fleer sticker

• 1983 - The Pirates whipped the San Diego Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium by a 5-4 score, concluding their best-ever west coast trip by taking 9-of-10 games. The Buccaneers ran their winning streak to eight games to reach .500. The Pirate attack was generated by Jason Thompson, who had three hits, including a homer, and three RBI. Dave Parker and Dale Berra also had three knocks to key a 13-hit outing. Lee Tunnell got the win and Kent Tekulve picked up the save. Pittsburgh kept on against the left coasters; right after the trip, LA, SF and SD came calling to TRS and the Bucs took 8-of-11 on the home turf. 
• 1988 - The Pirates ran their winning streak to nine games when they held off the Giants 5-4 at TRS. Pittsburgh jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second on a Mike Dunne RBI grounder and a two-out, two-run knock by Darnell Coles. San Francisco used a pair of homers to tie it up before the Bucs regained the lead in the eighth on Barry Bonds’ long ball, stroked with two outs and two strikes, to take a 5-3 edge. Jim Gott finished it up, though with some drama - a pair of walks (one intentional) sandwiched around a double cut the gap to one, then he survived Harry Spilman’s long drive to center that Andy Van Slyke had just enough room to corral and save the win for Jeff Robinson. The streaky club lost the next day, took three in a row, then dropped 15-of-23 on the way to an 85-75 campaign. 
• 1998 - The Bucs traded RHP Esteban Loaiza to the Texas Rangers for RHP Todd Van Poppel and 2B Warren Morris. The Pirates plugged Van Poppel into the rotation to replace Loaiza and Morris was considered the key as a lefty-hitting, power-bat second baseman. It didn’t work out quite as planned. TVP worked 10 weeks for Pittsburgh while Morris was released after the 2001 season. Loaiza pitched for another 10 seasons (albeit with seven teams), topped by a 21-9/2.90 campaign with the White Sox in 2003 when he was an All-Star and Cy Young runner up. 
• 1999 - In a wild 13-10 win over the Cleveland Indians at TRS, Kevin Young homered twice to drive in five runs and Al Martin also went yard two times to plate three more. The teams combined to bang out 32 hits and together burned through 13 pitchers during the game. 

KY - 1999 Pacific Crown

• 2003 - The Brewers and Bucs exchanged grand slams in a 7-5 Milwaukee win at PNC Park. Ex-Bucco John Vander Wal clocked a first inning salami off Kris Benson; Craig Wilson pounded a pinch hit grannie in the fifth off Wayne Franklin. 
• 2004 - Pittsburgh scored three times in the bottom of the eighth to rally past the Florida Marlins 4-2 at PNC Park. Tike Redman and Jack Wilson had RBI knocks in the frame, while Tony Alvarez added a sac fly. Salomon Torres got the win; Jose Mesa the save. 
• 2009 - It took the Bucs 14 innings, but they ended a streak of seven losses in eight games going into the All-Star break with a 2-1 win over the Giants. Garrett Jones homered off Bob Lowry at PNC Park for the walk-off winner; he also brought in the first run with a long ball of Tim Lincecum. The pitching duel, begun by Paul Maholm and Lincecum, featured 13 pitchers between the two clubs, with Evan Meek getting the win. 
• 2013 - The International League won the AAA All-Star Game, 4-3, over the Pacific Coast League. The big bop was delivered by Pirates C prospect Tony Sanchez of the Indy Indians who banged a three-run homer off Jarred Cosart in the second inning and won the game MVP. He got a late call to the big club that season, hitting .233 in 22 games, but is still bouncing around among organizations in the minors as a depth player.  He's currently in the Texas system.
• 2016 - Starling Marte went boom against ex-Bucco Ollie Perez in the 18th inning to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 win over Washington at Nationals Park; he had chased home Adam Frazier in the sixth with the Pirates first run. The Pirates took the 1-0 lead into the ninth in a duel between Chad Kuhl and Max Scherzer, but Daniel Murphy homered off Mark Melancon with two outs and two strikes to set up some bonus baseball. The Bucs almost ended it in the 16th when Josh Harrison doubled, but speed-challenged C Eric Kratz was cut down at home. The two clubs burned through 17 pitchers with Jon Niese getting the win. 

Felipe the All Star 2018 - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

• 2018 - Closer Felipe Rivero got his first All-Star nod (some thought a year overdue) as the only Pirates AS rep at Nationals Park, the yard where his career started. The AL prevailed in 10 innings by an 8-6 score that saw a record 10 homers belted, but they couldn’t dent Felipe. In his inning of work, he fanned a pair, walked one and gave up a single on a routine fly that was lost in the lights.