6/26 From 1960: Lloyd's Steal; Maury's 2-Dozen; DP Day; JT's Double-Double Dip; Down Pat; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Jason

• 1968 - In the year of the pitcher, the Bucs found themselves on the wrong end of history as St. Louis’ Bob Gibson tossed his fifth straight shutout against them, winning 3-0 on a five-hitter at Busch Stadium. He was zoned in on one of the great hurling streaks of history. The Dodgers scored once off him in the next game, then he authored three more shutouts in his next five games, giving up one run twice. His totals for that stretch of 11 games were: 11 wins, 11 complete games, 99 innings, three runs allowed on 56 hits, with 13 walks and 82 strikeouts. 
• 1968 - Bucco 3B Maury Wills ran his hitting streak to 24 games against Bob Gibson in a 3-0 loss to the Cards at Busch Stadium by beating out a ninth-inning bunt single. It ended during the second game of the twinbill, a 3-1 Pirate win, when Larry Jaster and Wayne Granger laid an 0-for-5 on Wills. It was a good run by Wills; he hit .419 during the 24-game stretch. 

Maury Wills - 1968 Pirates Promo Pack

• 1974 - Jason Kendall was born in San Diego. He spent nine years as a Pirate (1996-2004), putting up a .308 BA, hitting over .300 six times and earning three All-Star berths. He was on a Hall of Fame track before a string of injuries slowed his career, finishing his 16-year run with a .288 BA. Kendall has been a member of the KC Royals coaching staff, serving as a roving special assignment coach, since retiring as a player in 2012. 
• 1984 - 1B Jason Thompson hit two homers in each game (a pair off Dennis Eckersley and then two more off Rich Bordi) during a doubleheader split with the Cubs at Wrigley Field, winning 9-0 behind a Rick Rhoden four-hitter and dropping the nitecap 9-8. Thompson tied the club record (established by Ralph Kiner on 9/11/47) by hitting four home runs in a doubleheader. In the opener, the Pirates jumped to a quick 8-0 lead after three innings, with the only drama being Johnny Ray’s effort for a cycle (he fell a homer short). Doug Frobel joined the HR parade in the second match by also adding a pair of long flies, but the four homers were all solo shots and not quite enough to rally the Bucs from a six-run opening frame by the Cubbies against Larry McWilliams. 
• 1988 - It took 10 innings before anyone could push a run across the dish, but the Bucs outlasted the Expos 3-0 at Stade Olympique. Doug Drabek gave up two hits over eight innings and Jeff Robinson cruised home, giving up a rap and fanning four in 1-2/3 IP for the win. In the final frame, a Montreal error and two walks set up a sac fly by Sid Bream and the coup d’ grace was applied by Mike LaValliere, who doubled in a pair; all three runs were unearned. The Bucs made it hard on themselves by stranding 12 and going 1-for-11 w/RISP. 
• 1991 - The Pirates scored five times in the third inning and then hung on to defeat the Cubs at TRS in front of 41,389 fans by a final count of 7-6. Jose Lind had a three-run homer, Barry Bonds a two-run shot, and Jay Bell went 5-for-5 to prime the attack against Chicago. Bob Walk hung on for the win with Bill Landrum finishing up for the save. 

Jay Bell - 1991 Bowman

• 1999 - SS Pat Meares, on the DL recovering from surgery on his left hand but traveling with the team, ran in a mascot race at Milwaukee's County Stadium. Meares, dressed as a bratwurst, won the race by defeating a hot dog and a polish sausage. Two days prior, Meares had been caught on videotape sunbathing in the upper deck of Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium for the first six innings of a game. He missed all but the first 21 games of the ‘99 season after signing a contract that carried him until 2003. He played 2000-01 for the team, then spent the next two years on the DL; the Pirates wanted further surgery on his hand and he didn’t. Needless to say, the relationship became contentious, involving the union, league office and random attorneys. They eventually reached an uneasy truce, but Meares never played in the majors again after his 2001 campaign. 
• 2001 - On his 27th B-Day, Jason Kendall was ruled out at first, prompting the most famous steal in Pirate history. Manager Lloyd McClendon stormed out, put on a show for the 24,120 fans at PNC Park, and finally pulled the sack off its stanchion and carried it into the dugout in protest (he would later be hit with a $1,000 fine for his antics). As for the game, the Bucs came back to beat the Brewers 7-6 in 12 frames. They dodged a late bullet when Aramis Ramirez smacked a two-run, two-out eleventh inning homer to keep the game alive after the Brew Crew had taken the lead on back-to-back homers in their half off Mike Williams. Rob Mackowiak singled through a drawn-in infield to plate Kevin Young, who had opened the 12th with a double and moved to third on a ground out, to seal the deal for Omar Olivares and Pittsburgh. 
• 2004 - Randall Simon’s home run in the ninth was all the Pirate pitching needed as they edged the Reds 1-0 at GABP; he and Jose Castillo each had a pair of hits. Ollie Perez gave up three hits while firing 13 whiffs over seven frames but wasn’t part of the decision - Mark Corey got the win and Jose Mesa earned his 17th save. 
• 2005 - The Pirates turned six double plays and beat the Cardinals in St. Louis, 5-4, in 10 innings. The six twin killings were a club record and each was scored differently (2-4; 5-4-3; 9-4; 4-6-3; 5-2-3; and 6-4-3). Jason Bay hit a three-run HR in the third and a game-tying blast in the top of the ninth. Jose Castillo’s solo shot in the 10th iced the victory. Starter Ollie Perez broke his toe when he kicked a laundry cart in the clubhouse, frustrated that he had been pulled in the seventh inning. He wouldn’t pitch again until September. 

Vin Mazzaro - 2013 Quarry

• 2013 - The Pirates won their sixth straight game (they were in the midst of a nine game winning streak) on the road by a 4-2 count over the Seattle Mariners. It went to the wire, with Jordy Mercer’s two-out, two-run single giving Vin Mazzaro the win, iced by a Mark Melancon save. The Bucs tied the Cards for the lead in the NL Central with the victory, a spot they’d hold for the next 10 days and off-and-on through mid-September before ending the year with 94 wins, three games behind the Redbirds, and a wild card spot. 
• 2014 - Gregory Polanco went 2-for-3 with a walk and stolen base, hit his first PNC Park homer and had four RBI to lead the Pirates to a 5-2 win over the Mets, with Pedro Alvarez adding three hits. Vance Worley went seven innings for the win with Mark the Shark Melancon claiming the save.