8/31 From 1980: A-Ram Signed; Lucky 7; Unlucky 10 For Bucs & CC; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Dillon, Erik & Juan

• 1986 - RHP Juan Nicasio was born in San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic. The Pirates signed the five-year vet (LA, Colorado) in 2016 to a $3M deal and inked him again in 2017 for $3.65 M. After trying him out as a starter, the Pirates put him back in a bullpen role where he became an effective eighth-inning bridge. The Pirates let him go on waivers as an apparent salary dump and lost him to the Phils with no return. He last played for Texas in 2020. 
• 1987 - The Pirates won their seventh straight game, defeating the Atlanta Braves 7-3 at TRS. Andy Van Slyke went 3-for-3 with a homer and a walk, scored three times and drove home a pair while Al Pedrique chipped in two raps. Mike Dunne went the distance, tossing a six-hitter and earning his sixth win in the last seven decisions. As the cherry on top, earlier in the day Doug Drabek had been named the NL Player of the Week for going 2-0, giving up two runs in 16 innings the week before. 
• 1991 - Utilityman Erik Gonzalez was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Traded to the Bucs in the 2018 off season, he played 3B-SS-2B for Cleveland over parts of three seasons with a rep as a good glove man and mediocre bat (.262 BA/79 OPS+). With Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison’s departure after the 2018 campaign, Pittsburgh was looking for an IF’er, and Gonzalez was out of options and blocked with the Indians, making for a fit. He was hurt for much of two campaigns, and after hitting .236 BA over his three years, he was DFA’ed and assigned to Indy in August of ‘21. 

E-Gon image - 2021 AT&T SportsNet

• 1991 - The Pirates rode six innings of perfect relief by Roger Mason, Bill Landrum and game winner Bob Kipper to a 3-2, 12-inning victory over San Diego at Jack Murphy Stadium. The Buc tallies came in the second on Barry Bonds’ two-run shot and a leadoff homer to left by Don Slaught off Jose Melendez in the 12th. 
• 1992 - LHP Dillon Peters was born in Indianapolis. Drafted by Miami in 2014 despite college TJ surgery, he was traded to the Angels in 2018 and slashed 7-8/5.83 in 31 MLB outings (24 starts) between them. The Halos DFA’ed him in the summer of 2021 and the Pirates bought his rights. After three weeks or so at Indy, he was called up to join the big club’s rotation in August. 
• 1994 - In one of their better international deals, the Pirates signed 16-year-old Aramis Ramirez as an amateur free agent. A-Ram was the Pirates' last significant signing from the Dominican until the Rene Gayo era began a decade later. Ramirez had a pair of stints with the Bucs to open and close his career. 
• 1999 - The Bucs provided lots of late-inning drama while topping the Rox at Coors Field in 10 innings by a 9-8 score. Kevin Young gave the Bucs an 8-4 lead with a two-out, first-pitch grand slam down the LF line in the ninth. In the bottom half, six straight runners reached off Mike Williams to make the score 8-8, but Angel Echevarria was thrown out at home by Brian Giles to keep the game knotted. The Bucs came up with four hits and a walk in the 10th, but could only tally a run to take a shaky lead. With two away for Colorado, Dante Bichette singled off Jose Silva and was waved around on Vin Castilla’s double to left center, but was cut down by Al Martin to Mike Benjamin to Keith Osik (7-6-2) to preserve the win. 

Kevin Young - 1999 Pacific Crown

• 2008 - Milwaukee thumped the Bucs, 7-0, for Pittsburgh's 10th loss in a row. Ricky Weeks led off with a homer at PNC Park and it went downhill from there. The big story was CC Sabathia’s one-hitter; the lone rap was a weakly-hit fifth-inning grounder by Andy LaRoche that Sabathia dropped; the scorer, much to the chagrin of manager Ned Yost, ruled it a hit (and not unreasonably). Yost felt that CC had fired a no-hitter and even filed an unsuccessful appeal over the ruling. CC blamed himself for the controversy, telling ESPN "The ball was still rolling and I probably should have picked it up with my glove...I think if I pick it up with my glove, I get him." 
• 2010 - Pittsburgh won by the football score of 14-7 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The top four batters of the order (Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, Garrett Jones) went 13-for-19 with two homers, two doubles, a triple, three walks, nine runs scored and 11 RBI. It was a rare bright spot during a dismal stretch. Before the romp, the Pirates had gone 9-22, scoring three runs or fewer 23 times during that spell, and rung up a 14-game road losing streak as John Russell’s final Bucco squad would finish up the year at 57-105. 
• 2013 - The Pirates whipped the Cardinals, 7-1, at PNC Park to retake the NL Central lead behind AJ Burnett. Russ Martin had the big bop, a three-run homer, while Neil Walker added three knocks. The newly-acquired Justin Morneau showed he was eager to go; although not needed for this battle, he arrived in mid-game after flying in from Texas.