5/18 From 1970: Opener; Big Apple Visit; Bucs Clutch; Safe...Out...Ummm; Game Stories; RIP Rennie; HBD Joakim & Nelson

• 1970 - The Pirates won a game at Forbes Field on a blown-up play that plated the winning run, then didn’t, then did again, to hand the Phillies their 10th straight loss, 2-1. The game was played with three umpires when one member of the crew came down with the flu, an omen of things to come. Then in the seventh, the Bucs tied the game, 1-1, and had runners on the corners with an out. Pitcher Bob Moose was up and couldn’t lay down an attempted squeeze, then took a check swing on a tight 1-2 pitch. The umpire ruled it a ball, checked with first, and changed the tune to a swinging K. The pitch had meanwhile gotten away from the catcher, scoring Manny Sanguillen. Maz, on first, tried to get to third and was thrown out; to add to the bedlam, Moose sprinted to first, even though he was already out because there had been a runner on first when he fanned. The run counted, said the blue crew, who then gathered and decided it didn’t because it came in during a DP. Danny Murtaugh argued the ruling and then protested the game. The umpires reconvened, finally getting it right - the run was kosher because the passed ball between the strikeout and throw-out negated a rulebook DP. The Whistling Irishman withdrew his protest and Phils manager Frank Lucchesi shrugged his shoulders and said “The only thing I couldn’t figure is why they (the umpires) waited so long. Up until then, I was just trying to steal something.” 

Nelson Figueroa - 2003 photo Andy Lyons/Getty

• 1974 - RHP Nelson Figueroa was born in Brooklyn. He signed as a free agent with the Pirates in 2003 and spent most of the season pitching for the Nashville Sounds, the AAA affiliate of the Pirates. In his two Pittsburgh seasons, Nelson went 2-4/4.38. He was, unknown to the club, suffering from arm woes in 2004 and had TJ surgery in 2005. That ended his Bucco stay, although he did return to the fold in 2011, working for AAA Indianapolis. He finished with parts on nine big-league seasons under his belt working as a long guy and spot starter. 
• 1984 - RHP Joachim Soria was born in Monclova, Mexico. The Pirates picked up the reliever from the Tigers at the 2015 deadline in exchange for JaCoby Jones, and he was strong as a setup guy, earning a save and 11 holds in 29 outings while tossing to a 2.03 ERA (his FIP was 1.93 with 10 K per nine innings). He left for Kansas City in the offseason as a free agent, bounced around the league and while at Oakland, set the record for most appearances by a Mexican-born hurler (674 games) in 2019. Joakim is now with Arizona and after six MLB campaigns with Motown, JaCoby is in the KC organization. 
• 1990 - Bobby Bonilla cracked his first grand slam and Bob Walk cruised on the hill as Pittsburgh defeated the Braves, 9-3, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Wally Backman also added a two-run shot to support Walk, who went two outs deep into the seventh while tossing shutout ball; the bullpen was banged around a bit in the eighth and ninth frames to account for the Bravo runs. 
• 2009 - Jack Wilson went 4-for-4 and the Pirates batted 7-for-14 with RISP while scoring nine runs off the Washington bullpen (the Nats added four errors) en route to a 12-7 win at Nationals Park. The Bucs were losing 5-3 before scoring five times in the sixth inning and they never looked back. Wilson doubled twice, singled and tripled while Craig Monroe chipped in with a three-run blast. Ross Ohlendorf was the shaky starter but the beneficiary of the big inning. He got the win, with Jesse Chavez, Tom Gorzelanny, John Grabow and Matt Capps nailing it down. 

Charlie Morton - 2011 Topps 60 Years

• 2011 - Charlie Morton tossed a five-hit shutout while homers from Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen provided all the runs as the Pirates whipped the Reds, 5-0, at GABP. It was Morton’s second shutout and third complete game. He picked a bad day to get much notice; there were five whitewashes spun on this day around the league. 
• 2012 - Josh Harrison broke up Justin Verlander’s no-hit bid with one out in the ninth when he softly lined a curve ball into center. Verlander K’ed 12 Buccos and walked a pair at Comerica Park in leading Detroit to a 6-0 victory. 
• 2014 - The Pirates split a twin bill at Yankee Stadium, dropping the opener, 4-3, and taking the nightcap, 5-3. Charlie Morton gave up three first-inning runs in the first game and Starling Marte whiffed four times in four at-bats, with eight swings-and-misses. But baseball has a way of reversing fortune, and in the second game, Marte’s two-run homer was key in Gerrit Cole’s win (saved by Mark Melancon). Starling became the first Pirate in 60 years, after Preston Ward in 1954, to wear the golden sombrero in the first game of a double header and homer in the second. Other second game standouts were C Chris Stewart with two RBI & a pick-off at third and OF Josh Harrison, who homered, doubled and made a diving catch late in the game to seal the deal. Fun factoid: the second game victory was the first win the Pirates had claimed over the Bronx Bombers in New York since the 1960 World Series. 
• 2019 - The Pirates had two starters (Jameson Taillon & Trevor Williams) on the IL, and to fill the breach, Clint Hurdle cobbled together what is believed to be the Bucs’ first regular season “opener” game. (Jim Leyland had started RH reliever Ted Power in an NLCS game on 10/12/1990 v the Reds to get Cincy to start a lineup of lefties; he had southpaw Zane Smith follow). Montana DuRapau started, followed by Steven Brault, Michael Feliz, Kyle Crick, Frankie Liriano and Geoff Hartlieb. It worked like a charm against San Diego - the pitching committee struck out 13 Friars and the batters made their day easy by banging four long balls (Josh Bell had two, Gregory Polanco and Bryan Reynolds the others) in a 7-2 win at Petco Park. Brault got the win. 

Montana DuRapau - 2020 Topps Update

• 2021 - Rennie Stennett passed away in Florida at the age of 72 after battling cancer. The Panamanian played for the Pirates from 1971-79 and was part of MLB's first all-minority lineup, a member of two World Series teams, and set the modern-day record with his seven-hit game of 1975. His career was derailed in 1977 after a slide broke his leg.