5/26 From 1955: Kitten's * Game; Daryle's Cycle; Havin' A Blass-t; Long Rolls 7; Gems, Game Tales; HBD Dann

• 1956 - Dale Long became the first player to go deep in seven straight games when he took the Phillies' Ben Flowers deep in the eighth inning during his final at-bat as the Bucs dropped Philadelphia, 6-2, at Connie Mack Stadium. Frank Thomas and Hank Foiles also homered to give Vern Law the complete game win. Dale also doubled, and still wasn’t quite done with his historic home run streak. 
• 1959 - In baseball's ultimate pitching performance, Harvey Haddix threw 12 perfect innings against the Braves in Milwaukee’s County Stadium, only to lose the game, 1-0, in the 13th on a Dick Hoak error, sacrifice bunt, intentional walk and double that was a homer. (NL prez Warren Giles ruled that the final score should be 1-0, as runners Henry Aaron and Joe Adcock were ruled out, Aaron for leaving the field‚ and Adcock for passing him on the basepath. Adcock was credited with a double and not a HR.) In 1993‚ Bob Buhl admitted that the Braves pitchers were stealing the signs from C Smoky Burgess‚ who could not crouch down all the way because of his achy knees, and signaled the coming pitch, making Haddix's effort even more remarkable. The only player who wasn’t impressed was Haddix, who told the Post Gazette afterward "My main aim all night long was to win. The perfect game would have meant something to me then. It's just another loss.” 

Harvey's Perfecto - 1960 Topps Insert

• 1959 - C Dann Bilardello was born in Santa Cruz, California. He spent most of his Pirates time at AAA Buffalo, hitting just .171 for Pittsburgh in 52 games between 1989-90. Dann got some MLB time at San Diego in 1991-92 and played out his time in pro ball at indie Winnipeg in 1994. 
• 1971 - Steve Blass carried the Pirates to 2-0 victory over Cincinnati at Three Rivers Stadium, recording a career-high 11 strikeouts while tossing a five-hitter for his second shutout of the season. Willie Stargell hit a two-run homer off Reds starter Tony Cloninger in the sixth inning that proved to be the game winner. Blass went on to post a 15-8/2.85 line for the year. 
• 1978 - Montreal’s Steve Rogers spun a four-hitter at TRS, but two of them were back-to-back in the seventh frame when Rennie Stennett’s single was followed by Manny Sanguillen’s homer off a hung curve, and that was enough to carry John Candelaria and the Buccos to a 2-1 victory. Candy Man dodged plenty of raindrops, stranding 11, with the only blemish being Larry Parrish’s solo shot. Sangy, who was playing off the bench, manned first base (he got into 40 games at the spot in ‘78), replacing Willie Stargell, who had a sore back. 
• 1980 - There were lots of baseball fireworks as the Phils rallied to beat the Bucs, 7-6, at Veterans Stadium. Bert Blyleven brushed back a couple of Phillies early on; Philadelphia reliever Kevin Saucier later plunked Pops to even the score. Then he went one better, bopping Blyleven, who charged the mound, bat in hand. A donnybrook ensued, and as it was breaking up, Phil’s coach Mike Ryan reignited things to start round two. Philly had the last laugh, scoring twice in the ninth off Kent Tekulve, who gave up four straight hits, to claim the victory. 

Bert was the center of attention - 1980 Kelloggs 3-D

• 1997 - For the first time in twenty years, two inside-the-park home runs were hit in the same inning when Sammy Sosa of the Cubs and Tony Womack both circled the bases five minutes apart in the sixth frame of Chicago’s 2-1 victory at Three Rivers Stadium. Womack’s homer was a legit gapper with a copacetic bounce; Sosa's completed his circuit after Jose Guillen crashed into Adrian Brown, who had briefly gloved the ball. After the collision, it rolled away into right field and by the time the horsehide was chased down, Sosa won a bang-bang call at the plate. Francisco Cordova took the loss. 
• 2000 - Behind Francisco Cordova’s four-hitter and a double steal gone awry, the Pirates bested the Colorado Rockies at Coors Stadium, 2-1, in the second lowest scoring game played to date at the mile-high field. In a 1-1 game, the Rox tried a double steal; the lead runner, Tom Goodwin, stopped between second and third, and the back runner, Mike Lansing, turned and retreated to first as catcher Jason Kendall ran the ball toward him. The nimble backstop tagged Lansing and then threw to third to catch the slow-reacting Goodwin. Cordova celebrated by singling home Mike Benjamin with the game winner in the seventh. He was supposed to bunt, but the third baseman crept in too close, and Francisco took advantage by swinging away. Luis Sojo made a nice pair of plays at third in the final two frames to seal the deal as the Pirates ended a five-game losing streak. 
• 2004 - Daryle Ward hit for the cycle with a career single-game high of six RBI against St. Louis at Busch Stadium as the Bucs won, 11-8. Ward and his dad Gary (1980) became the first MLB father-son duo to hit for the cycle, with Craig (2002) and Cavan Biggio (2019) later joining the club. The Pirates used six pitchers, with the win going to starter Kris Benson. 

Matt was indeed the Hit Man - 2012 Topps Chrome

• 2012 - The Cubs lost their 11th straight game, 3-2, to the Pirates, Chi-town’s longest losing streak since opening the 1997 season with 14 consecutive losses. The teams were tied in the bottom of the ninth at PNC Park when Jose Tabata led off with a single off Rafael Dolis. Two walks and two outs later, the aptly named “Hit Man” Matt Hague took a pitch in the ribs for a walk-off plunk. Joel Hanrahan earned the win in a game started by Kevin Correia.