5/20 From 1970: Pops & Lawton Go Deeeep; Starg Booed At TRS; Hitman, Kid Boom; Gift Day; Osik Reversal; Big Comebacks; HBD Tony

• 1970 - Pittsburgh beat the Phils, 3-2, in 14 innings at Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente's third-inning triple, a 440-footer off the left-centerfield light tower, plated Freddie Patek. In the eighth, John Briggs dropped an Al Oliver fly, allowing Matty Alou to score the tying run. Alou later scored the game-winner courtesy of two consecutive wild pitches by Dick Selma. After a two-out knock, Matty moved up 90’ on the first wayward toss and then scored when the next took a wild bounce off the cement beneath the backstop screen, giving Alou time to scoot home from second. Bob Veale started, followed by five innings of stalwart, two-hit relief from Dave Giusti before Bruce Dal Canton finished off the last two frames for the win. 
• 1978 - Batting against Wayne Twitchell of the Montreal Expos, Willie Stargell hit the only fair ball ever to reach the upper deck of Olympic Stadium. The red seat where the ball landed, 535’ away, was painted yellow to mark the spot (and though baseball has long left, the seat memorial still remains). The Bucs won 6-0 as Bert Blyleven tossed a three-hitter with eight strikeouts, amply supported by Pops’ five RBI. 
• 1981 - Mike Easler lived up to his “Hitman” nickname by going 3-for-4 with two homers, a double and four RBI in a 6-1 win over the Braves at TRS. Rick Rhoden went six innings for the win, with Enrique Romo tossing three hitless frames to close it out. 

Starg gets booed - 5/21/1988 Marlene Karas/Pgh Press

• 1988 - Former Pirates MVP Willie Stargell was booed at TRS for coaching rival Atlanta, managed by Chuck Tanner. The Bucs won rather handily despite facing their old legends by a 10-3 score as Junior Ortiz and Mike Diaz teamed up to drive home six runs. Mike Dunne got the win in a game finished by Jim Gott. 
• 1988 - C John Anthony “Tony” Sanchez was born in Miami. He was drafted in the first round (4th pick) of the 2009 draft out of Boston College and first appeared as a Bucco in 2013. Tony hit .259 from 2013-15, serving as a call-up third catcher. He was DFA’ed after the 2015 season and has bounced around, last playing in the Ranger’s system through 2019. 
• 2000 - C Keith Osik made the second mop-up relief appearance of his career, allowing five runs on five hits, two hit batters, a wild pitch and a home run in the ninth inning of a 19-4 loss to the Cards at TRS. Osik became just the second position player since 1900 to both give up and hit a home run in the same game when he took Pat Hentgen deep in the eighth inning before surrendering a long ball to Thomas Howard. 
• 2001 - The Pirates did it the hard way at PNC Park - they fell behind the Brewers 7-0, but had two big innings left in them to rally for an 8-7 victory in front of a Sunday crowd of 35,728. The Bucs mounted their first surge in the fifth, small-balling three runs across the dish but leaving the bases jammed. Still down by a 7-3 count in the eighth, Pittsburgh again did it by hitting the ball where they ain’t, cashing in on five hits (four were singles; Abraham Nunez’s double was the game’s only extra-base hit for the Corsairs out of their 12 raps) and an error to plate five runs and claim the 8-7 comeback win. The real heroes were the five guys from the pen, who worked 5-1/3 IP of three-hit, one-run ball. Jose Manzanilla got the win and Mike Williams earned a save. It was the first time since 1998 the Pirates had overcome a seven-run deficit, and it was deja vu all over again: an 8-7 win over Milwaukee at TRS. 

Gonzo iced the comeback - 2004 Topps Total

• 2004 - The Bucs were down 6-0 after an inning and 7-1 after two, but Daryle Ward and Jason Bay each had a pair of homers and three RBI to lead the Bucs to a 9-7 comeback win (the biggest since overcoming a seven-run deficit against the Twins in 2001) over the San Diego Padres at PNC Park. Mike Gonzalez got the win and Jose Mesa the save. Despite the homers and nine runs scored, the Bucs went 0-for-7 with RISP. 
• 2005 - Matt Lawton hit the longest Pirate homer to date at PNC Park, blasting a 463’ rocket off Colorado’s Jamey Wright in a 9-4 Bucco victory. Lawton and Rob Mackowiak had three RBI each and Tike Redman went 4-for-4 and starter Mark Redman was credited with the win with four relievers filling in behind him to get the final eight outs. 
• 2011 - Neil Walker hit a homer and double, driving in five runs, to lead Pittsburgh to a 10-1 win against Detroit at PNC Park. Jeff Karstens earned the win, sealed by a trio of relievers. Jose Tabata and Garrett Jones added two knocks each while Lyle Overbay went long.