6/18 From 1980: Charlie the Avenger; Hot Hurling; Bucs Drop a Dozen; HBD JB

• 1987 - OF JB Shuck was born in Westerville, Ohio. He signed with the Bucs as a FA in January, 2019, after six seasons as mainly a bench piece in the majors. He broke camp with the team and was used as a defense-first OF’er and even pitched once, but after batting .213, he was sent to AAA Indy to serve as insurance in May. And talk about versatility - while with the Tribe, he was groomed to pitch in a pinch. The Nats recently released him, making him a free agent. 

Some JB robbery - photo 4/25/2019/Pirates

• 2005 - The Pirates whipped the Red Sox at Fenway Park by a 2-0 count, scoring single runs in the eighth and ninth on Humberto Cota and Ryan Doumit knocks. Three Bucco pitchers - Dave Williams, Rick White and Jose Mesa - combined on a six-hitter to stop Boston. 
• 2010 - The sad sack Pirates lost their 12th straight game by a 4-3 count to the almost equally inept Cleveland Indians at PNC Park. All the scoring was in the seventh inning, with the Bucs scoring on a bases-loaded double by Ryan Church to not-quite-answer the Tribe uprising. The Pirates came back to take the next two games from the Indians, followed by a six-game losing streak. 
• 2013 - After a defeat at Cincy during which Andrew McCutchen was HBP and Neil Walker was knocked down, Charlie Morton plunked the first Red to step to plate and then led the Bucs to a 4-0 win at GABP. Morton and three relievers combined on a four-hitter. The Bucs never looked back, scoring three times in the first, keyed by a two-run, bases-loaded knock by Pedro Alvarez. 
• 2015 - Behind the pitching of Gerrit Cole, Arquimedes Caminero and Mark Melancon, the Bucs upended the Chicago White Sox 3-2 at US Cellular park. The Pirates scored three times in the first off an Andrew McCutchen RBI single and two-run homer by Jung-Ho Kang to win their eighth in row and their third straight series sweep. The victory was Cole’s MLB-leading 11th. It was also the sixth straight win by the Bucs when scoring three or fewer runs. Finally, it was a red letter day for C Francisco Cervelli. He caught his 56th consecutive scoreless inning, matching Ed Phelps' behind-the-plate shutout streak of 1903. 

Willy was on his game - 2018 Topps

• 2018 - Trevor Williams broke out of a weeks-long funk and spun a one-hit shutout with seven K over seven frames as the Bucs squeaked by the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 at PNC Park. Francisco Cervelli was the only guy to visit the sacks regularly in the contest with two hits and a walk; Pittsburgh’s score came on a Jordy Mercer double, which chased Cervy home, in the seventh frame. Kyle Crick worked a clean inning and Felipe Rivero closed it out.