7/5 From 1980: Cole Train Rolls; 10-In-A-Row; Ben, Wil 6-Packs; Barry & Bobby #1; Hot Start; Game Tales; HBD Felipe

• 1982 - Pittsburgh's first two hitters of the game, Omar Moreno and Johnny Ray, homered off Houston's Joe Niekro at TRS, the second time in Pirate history that feat had been done and the first time done at home. Niekro ended up with the last laugh, though, in a 6-4 Astro win; the Pirates lost the game the first time the deed was done, too. 

Omar Moreno - 1982 Fleer

• 1988 - Andy Van Slyke, Sid Bream, Jim Gott, Spanky LaValliere and Bobby Bonilla held a players-only meeting before playing San Diego at Jack Murphy Stadium after losing three in a row and falling 7-1/2 games off the lead. They preached doing it as a team instead of players trying to do it all themselves and won that night, 3-2, as AVS backed his talk when he homered and stole a base. The big play came with an out in the ninth when C Junior Ortiz withstood a runaway John Kruk collision at home to keep the tying run from scoring. Bob Walk got the win with Barry Jones earning the save. The meeting didn’t help long term; the Mets waltzed away with the crown by winning 100 games to the Bucs 85 victories. 
• 1989 - Barry Bonds homered in Pirates' 6-4 loss to the Giants at TRS, giving him and his dad Bobby the MLB father-and-son home run record with 408. The Bells (Gus & Buddy) and the Berras (Yogi & Dale) formerly shared the record of 407. Gus and Dale both played for the Bucs so the Pirates had a claim on all three slugging "Killer B" families. 
• 1991 - LHP Felipe Vazquez (formerly Rivero) was born in San Felipe, Venezuela. The lefty joined the Bucs from the Nationals in 2016 as part of the Mark Melancon deal and established himself as a solid setup man. The following year, the Pirates traded closer Tony Watson and Vasquez (he adopted the last name from his sister in 2018) claimed his role, featuring a 100 MPH fastball, slider and changeup combo. His career hit the drain when he was arrested for child porno and sexual assault in 2019.
• 2000 - Wil Cordero drove in six runs with a pair of long balls to lead the Bucs to a 9-6 win against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Aramis Ramirez also added a homer against Chicago. Jimmy Anderson went five innings for the win with Scott Sauerbeck, Jason Christiansen and Mike Williams bringing it home. 

Kip Wells - 2004 Upper Deck

• 2004 - Pittsburgh won its 10th straight game, 3-1, over the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium as Kip Wells outdueled Josh Beckett. Wells gave up four hits and K’ed eight in a scoreless eight-inning outing and then had to sweat out a shaky Jose Silva save. Abraham Nunez homered in the win. The streak, which was the highlight of an 89-loss season, ended the next day. The Pirates actually played well through July and were just two games under .500 on the 27th, but the dog days proved unkind to Lloyd McClendon’s charges. 
• 2005 - Kip Wells scattered four hits and punched out a dozen Phils as he went wire-to-wire for a 3-0 victory at PNC Park. The shutout was the second (and last) complete-game whitewash of his 12-year career. Jason Bay had three hits and provided the big blow with a two-run blast in the fifth while Matt Lawton’s double plated the other score. 
• 2007 - Adam LaRoche pounded a pair of homers and a double, driving in three runs and scoring three more as the Bucs dropped the Brewers, 6-3, at PNC Park. Xavier Nady added three hits, including a homer. Tom Gorzelanny got the win and Matt Capps the save. 
• 2015 - The Bucs used a big frame to take a 5-3 win over the Cleveland Indians at PNC Park. The Pirates trailed, 3-0, entering the bottom of the fifth before plating five runs off Danny Salazar on a two-run homer from Pedro Alvarez, a run-scoring single from Neil Walker and a two-run double from Andrew McCutchen. The Pittsburgh Kid and Cutch banged their game-tying and game-winning hits with two away. Gerrit Cole earned his league-leading 12th win by tossing eight innings of five-hit ball and striking out five. Cole tied Ken Brett (1974), ElRoy Face (1959) and Rip Sewell (1943) for the second-most wins prior to the All-Star break in Pirates history behind only Dock Ellis’ 14-win start in 1971. Mark Melancon earned his 27th save by tossing a 1-2-3 ninth inning. 

Chase De Jong - 2021 photo/Pirates

• 2021 - The Bucs had a big night, beating Atlanta at PNC Park by an 11-1 count. They were led by some unlikely suspects. Chase De Jong won his first MLB game since 2018, escaping a testy 36-pitch first-inning by allowing just a run and then following with four shutout frames. OF Ben Gamel had a night with three hits, including two homers, three runs scored and a career-high six runs chased home. John Nogowski, just bought from the Cards and hitting .096, had two hits, a walk, three tallies and his first MLB RBI. Pittsburgh had its hitting shoes on: the first six batters in the lineup had two or more hits.