4/27 From the 1950’s Through the 1980’s: Willie's April Showers; B-2-B; Diaz Deal; Game Stories; HBD Paul

• 1954 - Toby Atwell and Jerry Lynch hit homers in back-to-back at-bats in the sixth and eighth innings, the first Pirates to accomplish the feat in the 20th century (Neil Walker & Gaby Sanchez matched the deed in 2014). It wasn’t enough as Pittsburgh lost to the Reds 8-7 at Crosley Field as Ted Kluszewski hammered a pair of long balls for Cincy. 

Paul Miller - 1992 Bowman

• 1965 - RHP Paul Miller was born in Burlington, Wisconsin. Miller’s MLB career lasted 10 games (two starts), tossed between 1991-93 for the Bucs with a line of 1-0/4.10. Paul Miller spent his entire pro career in the Pirates organization, selected in the 53rd round of the 1987 draft and remaining a Bucco until retiring in 1994 after a final campaign with AAA Buffalo. 
• 1970 - Steve Blass lost a pitching duel to Joe Decker and the Chicago Cubs 1-0 at Forbes Field. Blass surrendered just four hits over eight innings. One was a two-out triple by Glenn Beckert; he tried to stretch it into an inside the park HR and was dead at home, but Manny Sanguillen whiffed on the relay throw to allow the unearned, and only, run of the game to score. Roberto Clemente was thrown out at the plate twice during the game, once trying to score on a Willie Stargell double and again in the ninth when he tripled but was caught in a rundown a batter later, trapped following a comebacker. The Cubbies ran their winning streak to 11 games with the victory, a string the Pirates would snap the next day. 
• 1971 - Willie Stargell set a then-MLB record with his 11th HR in the month of April, a shot over the TRS center field wall against LA’s Pete Mikkelsen, in a 7-5 loss. The record stood for 36 years until it was broken by Albert Pujols, who hit 14 opening-month bombs in 2006. Pops lost quite a few baseballs that season as he hit a career-high 48 homers. 
• 1985 - Pittsburgh traded minor league C Steve Herz to the Phillies for utility PH Mike Diaz. Diaz fit in nicely as a bench player for a couple of seasons, putting up a line of .250/28/89 in 606 PA while Herz never made it out of AAA. 

Mike Diaz - 1987 Donruss

• 1986 - The Pirates used offense from unexpected sources to pound the Phils 13-5 at TRS. Bill Almon went 3-for-5 with two runs, four RBI, two doubles and a homer while pitcher Bob Walk went 2-for-2 with a pair of two-baggers. Tony Pena added three hits while Mike Brown chipped in two more; the Buccos collected eight doubles during the contest. The Pirates jumped out to a 7-1 second inning lead, saw the Phils cut it to 7-5, and then iced it with a five-spot in the eighth. Mike Bielecki got the win and Walk added a save to his hitting heroics, tossing 3-1/3 frames of scoreless, one-hit ball.