6/20 From 1980: Haak Leaves; Petey Rips Reds; Streak Snapper; Interleague & Game Stories

• 1983 - The Bucs swept the Cubs at TRS, taking a 5-4 10-inning triumph in the opener and a 6-5 13-inning win in the nightcap, drawing just 5,839 fans to the twilighter. Richie Hebner’s pinch hit homer against Bill Campbell to lead off the 10th gave Kent Tekulve the win in the first game; Jason Thompson also homered. The Cubbies made the second game exciting by scoring twice in the ninth on a two-out single by Ron Cey off Don Robinson. The potential lead run was cut down at the plate when Robby retrieved an errant throw home and got the ball to Steve Nicosia in time to nail Bill Buckner. Robinson later settled in and tossed shutout ball the rest of the way, getting the win when Marvell Wynne singled home Dale Berra to broom Chicago. Berra, Lee Lacy and Jim Morrison went long during the contest, with Berra collecting four hits. The Bucs were floundering at this point (even with the sweep, they were 11 games under .500), but got their act together to hold a share of first in mid-September. Then Philly caught fire and the Bucs went 6-8 down the stretch to finish second, six games off the pace. 

Howie Haak - photo via SABR

• 1983 - The 71-year-old “King of the Caribbean Scouts,” Howie Haak, signed a three-year contract with the Bucs as their scouting supervisor. He lasted until 1988, when he left for Houston after a disagreement with GM Syd Thrift, severing a Steel City relationship that began in 1950. 
• 1993 - The Pirates scored twice in the ninth to edge the Mets 3-2 at TRS. After an intentional walk to Jeff King loaded the bases, John Franco walked in the tying run, losing Kevin Young on a 3-2 pitch. It took some soul searching by Jim Leyland to allow the rookie left-handed hitter to face southpaw Franco with RH Lloyd McClendon available to hit, but he said “You’re trying to groom Kevin Young for the future” and let him bat. The next man up, Don Slaught, singled home the winner after Franco fell behind him 2-0. Stan Belinda won in relief of Steve Cooke. With the victory, the Bucs swept the four-game set against the Metropolitans. 
• 2003 - The Cleveland Indians raced ahead of Josh Fogg and the Pirates 3-0, but a two-out error in the third by Tribe starter Brian Tallet opened the gates; Jason Kendall banged an RBI double following the boot and Aramis Ramirez slammed a three-run shot to give the Bucs the lead. Scott Sauerbeck allowed the Indians to tie it in the eighth, and the game was on. It took 15 innings, but behind four scoreless frames by Salomon Torres (although six hits in that span kept the drama level high) and Randall Simon’s homer to greet Danny Baez in the 15th, the Pirates sent the remains of crowd of 26,305 at PNC Park home happy after four hours and 32 minutes of baseball. 
• 2008 - The Buccos outlasted Toronto 1-0 in 12 innings at PNC Park. Tyler Yates, the last of four Buc pitchers, tossed two innings for the win. Pittsburgh claimed the W when SS John McDonald couldn't come up cleanly with Jason Michaels' weak bases-loaded grounder, scoring Doug Mientkiewicz. The two teams combined to strand 21 runners during the game that was started by Zach Duke and Roy “Doc” Halladay; both spun seven scoreless frames. 
• 2010 - The Pirates won their second in a row from the Indians 5-3 at PNC Park when they scored twice in the bottom of the eighth on a Pedro Alvarez sac fly and Bobby Crosby knock. Pittsburgh had lost twelve consecutive games before the modest streak, and began a six-game losing streak after the contest. Brad Lincoln started the game, but Brendan Donnelly got the win and Octavio Dotel picked up the save. 

Bobby Crosby - 2010 Topps Heritage

• 2013 - Pedro Alvarez smacked a single, double and homer to chase home all five runs in the Bucs 5-3 win over the Reds in front of nearly 41,000 fans at GABP. Brandon Cumpton started, reliever Bryan Morris came away with the win and Tony Watson claimed the save as St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh continued their combat in the NL Central. The division rivals had the three best records in the major leagues on this day and were separated by four games. 
• 2015 - Max Scherzer no-hit the Bucs at Nationals Park and came within a strike of tossing a perfect game. With two outs in the ninth and an 0-2 count on Jose Tabata, a mini-battle began with JT fouling off several pitches. With the count 2-2, Scherzer tried to sneak a slider past Tabata; it backed up a bit and clipped JT on the elbow pad (Tabata didn’t make much effort to get out of harm’s way, actually leaning into the pitch) to spoil the perfecto. Josh Harrison flew out to the track in left to end it, with Washington claiming a 6-0 win. 
• 2016 - The Pirates took an unlikely 1-0 victory from the SF Giants at PNC Park. Jeff Locke, who had given up 18 runs in his previous two starts, pulled a U-turn and tossed 6-⅔ IP of five-hit ball against Giant ace Madison Bumgarner, who was on a seven-game winning streak and entered the game with a 1.91 ERA. Additionally, the Bucs were on a five-game losing streak while the G-Men had claimed eight straight wins. The winning blow was a homer by C Erik Kratz, who was hitting .045, a drive to left that Angel Pagan’s leap almost pulled back, only to lose the ball as he crashed down into the fence.