8/29 From 2000: Cota Controversy; Hey Hey J-Hay; Gregory Puts Bucs In the Books; Game Stories

• 2000 - Kris Benson shutout the Giants 8-0 at TRS. He gave up one hit in eight frames, a first inning single to Barry Bonds. The Pirates banged four doubles (two by Enrique Wilson), a triple and a homer (John Vander Wal) off Livian Hernandez, who only managed six outs before getting the hook. 
• 2003 - C Humberto Cota was suspended without pay and removed from the 40-man roster for refusing to play for AAA Nashville. He had hurt his hand in winter ball during the 2002-03 off season and told the Sounds he was injured and in too much pain to keep on playing (Pat Meares syndrome) after he was sent down by the Pirates, a diagnosis not shared by the team docs. Cota took 2-1/2 months off to rest his paw, then got back in shape by playing some winter ball outfield. The Bucs reinstated him and invited him to camp, where he won a backup role in 2004, allowing Craig Wilson to move to the OF. He held down an off-and-on bench spot through 2007, and even played a career-high 98 games in 2005 after Jason Kendall was traded to Oakland in the previous winter.  

 

Humberto Cota - 2002 Topps Vintage Rookies

• 2006 - The Pirates scored twice in the 11th on an error and a bases loaded walk to defeat the Cubs 7-6 at PNC Park. Matt Capps, the sixth Pirate pitcher, picked up the win while Xavier Nady went 3-for-5 with a double and a couple of runs scored. The Cubs had jumped out to a 4-0 lead; the Bucs tied it in the sixth, then the clubs exchanged tallies in the seventh to set up some bonus baseball. 
•  2012 - The Pirates made their last push of the year by dropping the Cards by a 5-0 score behind Wandy Rodriguez at PNC Park. Pedro Alvarez banged a three-run homer to lead the attack. The Bucs moved within a game of the wildcard, having shut out the Redbirds 9-0 the day before with Petey adding another pair of homers and four RBI in support of James McDonald. It was just a tease; Pittsburgh finished September 7-21 and ended the season with just 79 wins.  
• 2014 - It was Josh Harrison day at PNC Park against the Cincinnati Reds. Presented with the Heart & Hustle Award before the game, J-Hay had the key hit in the Pirates come-from-behind, 2-1 win. His triple off Jonathan Broxton scored Andrew Lambo to tie the game in the eighth inning, and Josh came home with the game winner on Jose Tabata’s chopper through a drawn-in infield. Not only did J-Hay have three hits, but made several web-gem plays during the contest, the best of the bunch being a diving stop that he turned into a 5-3 DP and a hustling chase of a bad relay that led to a cut down runner at home. Edinson Volquez had a no-hitter through six frames, but was in line for a loss after Tony Watson, in relief with two outs in the eighth, allowed a soft single to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Watson got the win (funny game sometimes) and Mark Melancon tossed a perfect ninth for the save. The game was played before a sellout crowd of 37,209 fans.
• 2016 - Gregory Polanco blasted a three-run opposite field home run off the Cubs Jake Arrieta at Wrigley Field for the 11,000th homer in Pirates history. Josh Bell added his second career home run with another oppo taco, a solo shot in the fourth inning off Arrieta in a 5:03, 13-inning contest that the Bucs eventually lost 8-7. Pittsburgh loaded the bases with no outs in the final inning, but could only chase home one run on a Josh Harrison sac fly. It didn’t hold up long - Jeff Locke couldn’t get an out in his second inning of relief, and Chicago used four singles around an intentional walk to take home the bacon. 
• 2018 - Trevor Williams went six innings of three-hit, scoreless ball with a career-high eight strikeouts and the bullpen (Edgar Santana, Keone Kela and Felipe Vazquez) took care of the rest as the Pirates dropped the Cards 2-0 at Busch Stadium. A little small ball paid off in the fifth as the Bucs used a bunt, bloop and hit-and-run to generate the scores with Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco driving in the runs. Polanco, Corey Dickerson and Adam Frazier each had a pair of hits while Marte and Jordy Mercer scored.  

 

S-Rod - 2018 photo Pittsburgh Pirates

• 2018 - Utilityman Sean Rodriguez, in his second go-around with the Pirates, was DFA’ed when Jordy Mercer came off the DL. S-Rod joined the Pirates in the winter of 2014 after a trade with Tampa Bay for P Buddy Borden, hit .246, and signed for another season at $2.5 M. He hit .270 w/18 HR and was a NL Player of the Week in 2016, then signed a two-year, $11.5 M deal with the Atlanta Braves. He injured his rotator cuff in a car accident and was traded back to the Pirates in 2017 for 1B/OF Connor Joe. In his first game back with the Pirates, he hit a walk-off home run, but it went downhill after that. S-Rod hit .168 for the Bucs over the remainder of the campaign and .167 the following year before he was let go. He played every position except pitcher/catcher while with the club. He’s now with Miami.  
• 2019 - The Pirates sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored seven times against Colorado at Coors Field, then hung on to finally take an 11-8 victory. Kevin Newman led off with a homer with two hits in the opening frame and had four on the night, including a second dinger. Adam Frazier also chipped in four hits and Jose Osuna added a homer. The Pirates had an eight-run lead in the eighth, only to see the Rockies tee off on the bullpen and make it interesting at 11-8. Felipe Vazquez came on to get a drama-free save of Trevor William’s win.