4/30 From 1960: Meares Signed; Two-4-Scrap Iron & Jeff; 8-In-A-Row; Pizarro Conquers; Bye-Bye Bly; Mad Dog Cover; HBD Jeff

• 1960 - Pittsburgh scored 10 times in the second inning against the Reds at Crosley Field on the way to a 12-7 win, their eighth victory in a row. Roberto Clemente, Billy Maz (who was 4-for-5) and Dick Stuart each drove home three RBI. They knocked off Cincy one more time 13-2 the following day (Clemente & Maz stayed hot; each homered and drove in four runs) before the good times ended with a 4-3, ninth-inning loss to the Cards at Busch Stadium. 
• 1964 - Utility man Jeff Reboulet was born in Dayton, Ohio. Jeff had a 12-year MLB career as a jack-of-all-trades, playing every position on the diamond except pitcher. He closed out his big league run with Pittsburgh in 2003 as a backup infielder, batting .241, just about his lifetime average (.240). After living on a bench-warmers pay during his baseball days, Jeff turned that experience into his second career - when he retired, Reboulet co-founded Horizon Wealth Management and became a financial advisor. 
• 1967 - Juan Pizarro struck out eight batters and tossed a four-hit shutout in Pittsburgh’s 2-0 win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. It would be his only shutout and complete game as a Bucco; the Pirates used him primarily from the pen and he only made nine starts while in Pittsburgh. Jerry May knocked in both of the tallies with a run-scoring single in the second inning and a solo shot in the fifth frame.

Juan Pizarro - 1967 Topps

• 1968 - The Bucs couldn’t solve the Cubs’ Bill Hands, who left the game in the eighth with a 1-0 lead, but some two-out magic eventually saved the day. Matty Alou’s double with two away off Phil Regan knotted the score heading into the last frame. Chicago came right back to score a pair in the ninth off Bob Mosse and Juan Pizarro, and Chuck Hartenstein, who would become a Bucco next season, climbed the hill. But he couldn’t put the Pirates away as a pair of walks and a pair of singles made it 3-2 with one gone. Bill Stoneman took over and got a big K, but Manny Mota walked it off with a soft liner to right center that a diving Adolfo Phillips couldn’t corral. The game was played in front of just 3,710 fans at Forbes Field; it drizzled through much of the evening and the temperature was just 44 degrees. 
• 1980 - Phil Garner had his first two-homer game, good for three RBI, and Bill Robinson added another tater as the division leading Pirates took a 5-0 victory over the Expos at TRS. Jim Bibby tossed a six-hitter for the win. The Garner long balls were a birthday gift to himself; Scrap Iron was celebrating his 31st year. 
• 1980 - Pitcher Bert Blyleven left the team and announced that he would retire if he wasn’t traded, citing “the non-support and lack of confidence from his manager,” unhappy that Chuck Tanner wouldn’t let him pitch deeper into games. He did finish out the year, going 8-13/3.88 with 216 IP and was granted his wish when he was sent to the Indians during the off season. 
• 1984 - Bill Madlock was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Have Bats - Will Hit.” Not quite...Mad Dog tried playing through a sore elbow and eventually had surgery in August to remove bones spurs. He batted just .253 for the campaign. 
• 1996 - For the second time in his career, Jeff King hit a pair of bombs in the same inning - one a grand slam - to lead the Bucs to a 10-7 win over the Reds. The first baseman joined Andre Dawson and Willie McCovey as the only MLB’ers to have accomplished the feat twice. The Bucs tallied nine times in the fourth frame to spark the victory at Cinergy Field, sending Cincinnati to its eighth straight loss. 

Jeff King - 1996 Leaf Studio

• 1999 - Pat Meares, 30, was signed to a one year, $1.5M contract by Cam Bonifay. He broke his wrist in spring training (the Pirates misdiagnosed it as a sprain), and a week after he came off the DL was given a four-year, $15M extension. He played 240 games for the Pirates and 2001 was his last season, reaching a settlement that paid him for 2002-03 without him playing. 
• 2008 - Pirate RF’er Xavier Nady went 3-for-3 with a pair of walks while driving in three runs during a 13-1 rout of the Mets in New York. Nady’s three RBI increased his total to 26 for the month of April. That was tops in the NL at the time, and the most for a Pirate in the season’s first month since Willie Stargell’s 27 in 1971. 
• 2019 - The Pirates carried an eight-game losing streak into Texas and were an out away from making it nine when Josh Bell’s ninth-inning two-bagger plated a pair to tie the game at 3-3. The 10th went quietly before the Buc bats erupted, with Bryan Reynolds hitting his first big league homer and Starling Marte adding a two-run shot in the 11th to snap the streak with a 6-4 victory against the Rangers at Globe Life Stadium. Kyle Crick claimed the win, with Felipe Vazquez picking up the save. Despite that icy stretch, the Pirates finished the month at 13-14 to stay at least within shouting distance in the division.