7/1 From 1970: Granny Redbeard; Bell Rolls 7; AS Adam; Fivers By Fraze & Colin; Short Season; Gems & Game Tales

• 1972 - Roberto Clemente’s seventh-inning homer helped the Bucs rally to take a 2-1 lead over the Chicago Cubs at TRS. After the Cubbies answered with a pair of their own to regain their edge, 3-2, Clemente homered again in the ninth inning with Milt May aboard for a walk-off 4-3 win. Both homers came off Fergie Jenkins, who lost to Dave Giusti in relief of Bob Moose. 
• 1978 - It was a pitcher’s duel between Jim Rooker and the Mets’ Kevin Kobel at TRS. With the score 0-0 in the bottom of the eighth, Skip Lockwood took the ball for NY. An infield knock by Manny Sanguillen and two-out walk to Duffy Dyer set up Willie Stargell, who lined a single over second to chase home the Road Runner with the game winner. Rooker got the win and Kent Tekulve came in for the save. The two combined for a four-hitter to post the 1-0 victory. 
• 1990 - LHP John Smiley came off the DL after breaking his hand in mid-May and was understandably rusty, giving up five runs in four innings against the Giants at Candlestick Park. But his teammates picked him up with homers from Barry Bonds, Jeff King, Sid Bream and Jay Bell (three of the blasts were two-run shots) as Pittsburgh rode the longball barrage to a 9-5 win against San Francisco and stayed a game up in the National League East standings. 
• 1992 - Zane Smith tossed a 97-pitch, five-hit, complete-game gem in a 1-0 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, walking one and fanning one (the last batter). St. Louis’ Mark Clark was the tough-luck loser, giving up just four knocks in eight frames. It was the Bucs second straight shutout of the Redbirds, the only time during the campaign that Pittsburgh hurlers would put up back-to-back zeros. The pitching for both teams was brilliant; the Pirates won the series two games to one, outscoring the Cards by four-runs-to-three during the set. Gary Varsho’s single in the fourth inning plated Andy Van Slyke, who had opened the frame with a double, for the game’s only tally. The contest took just two hours and four minutes from opening pitch to the final out. 

Orlando Merced - 1996 Metal Universe

• 1996 - During a 4-1 win over Chicago at TRS, RF Orlando Merced pulled off an unassisted DP, catching Mark Grace's liner and then beating Scott Bullett to 1B. He also started another DP, gloving a short pop and catching Doug Glanville off second with his throw to Jay Bell. Merced added a pair of hits, two RBI and a run scored to help Danny Darwin pick up the win. 
• 2006 - The Pirates and sponsoring PNC Bank took trinkets to a new level with the “Young Guns - Doumit, Duke and Duffy” (Ryan Doumit, Zach Duke, and Chris Duffy) triple bobblehead giveaway. 37,111 fans flooded PNC Park (playing the Detroit Tigers, whose fans travel well, on a Saturday night helped the draw, too) to get theirs as the Bucs won, 9-2. Jose Bautista and Sean Casey each had three hits and Matt Capps got the win in relief of Tom Gorzelanny. One bummer: manager Jim Tracy missed the promo memo as none of the “Young Guns” played. 
• 2014 - Down 2-0 in the ninth and held to just two hits over eight innings by Arizona’s Wade Miley, the Bucs made up for lost time at PNC Park. Neil Walker opened with a single to center, then pinch hitter Gregory Polanco dumped a knock to left. With an out, Starling Marte chased a pair of sliders, then reliever Addison Reed hung one over the plate and Marte bombed it for a two-run double off the center field wall. He scooted to third when SS Nick Ahmed's throw to the plate got away, then Andrew McCutchen was walked intentionally. Ike Davis hit for Gaby Sanchez and dropped a broken bat jam shot into right to plate Marte as the Bucs rallied to take a 3-2 victory. Ernesto Frieri picked up his first win as a Bucco after tossing a scoreless ninth, with his bacon being saved by Josh Harrison, who threw out a runner at home from short right field. 
• 2015 - The Buccos flexed their muscles against the Tigers at Comerica Field in a 9-3 win. The Bucs banged out 21 hits, their most since 2004, and drilled four homers. Two were by Neil Walker, and three were hit in one frame by Walker, Starling Marte and Pedro Alvarez. Every Pirate starter had a knock and seven had multi-hit nights against Detroit, led by The Pittsburgh Kid and Marte with four each while Gregory Polanco added three more. AJ Burnett coasted to his seventh victory, going the distance. 

Neil Walker - 2015 Donruss

• 2018 - 3B Colin Moran became the second Pirates player to hit two grand slams in his rookie season after a two-out, bases-juiced long fly off Tyson Ross in the fifth frame as the Bucs defeated the San Diego Padres, 7-5, at Petco Park. (The first Bucco rook to hit two grannies in his debut year was Wally Westlake in 1947.) Kyle Crick earned his first MLB win as one of seven Corsair hurlers to work the contest. Corey Dickerson and Elias Diaz also homered for Pittsburgh. 
• 2019 - The Pirates put on a fireworks show a couple of days early by bashing the Chicago Cubs, 18-5, at PNC Park. Josh Bell, recently announced as a Home Run Derby contestant at the All Star Game, vouched for that decision by banging three homers, the first Bucco lefty since Wille Stargell against the Bravos in 1971 to loft three big flies, bringing his mid-season total to 25 dingers. He also added a personal best seven RBI. Adam Frazier had five hits, including four doubles, to tie an MLB record held by several; he’s the only Pirates player beside Paul Waner to accomplish that feat (later matched by Kevin Nerwman in 2021). Also drilling the ball all over the yard was Colin Moran, who also bopped out five hits, including a pair of two-baggers. The Pirates collected 23 hits, the most ever by them against the Cubbies, to allow Trevor Williams to claim a win on a day when he didn’t have his best stuff, although that flaw was neutralized by the lumber as the Bucs set season-high marks in runs (18), hits (23), doubles (seven) and homers (five).
• 2020 - The Pirates reported to Spring Training 2.0 at PNC Park for a proposed starting date of July 24th, with a 40-man roster to prepare for the coronavirus-shortened season, with 20 more top farmhands working out at PNG Park in Altoona (formal workouts began on the 3rd). And that was the Pittsburgh organization for the year; the minor league season was canceled, though the Bucs, like most of MLB, paid the farm hands under contract but without a team to play for a stipend of $400/week through July 31st. Spring training and the season had been on hold since March 24th before MLB struck a deal with the Player’s Association to play ball. 

Adam Frazier - image 2021 Pirates

• 2021 - Pittsburgh’s 2B Adam Frazier won a spot as a starter for the All Star Game by batting .326 with 50 runs and 28 RBI out of the leadoff spot. He easily beat out runner-up Ozzie Albies and third-place finisher Gavin Lux to earn his first Midsummer Classic nod. Fraze collected a hit in the game that night against the Brewers, but the team didn’t fare as well, losing 7-2. 
• 2022 - The Pirates hosted the Brewers at PNC Park, and ouch... The Crew won, 19-2, banging five homers, five doubles, and batting around not just once, but twice. Youngster Roansy Contreras, who would go on to have a pretty good campaign, was the first pitcher Milwaukee sent nine batters against. That was the second inning, and he was sent to the showers down 7-0. The eighth inning was worse. Rookie Cam Vieaux took the hill and was to bite the bullet for the bullpen...and he sure did have plenty to chew on. He faced 13 batters, and the first 10 reached base; it took him 48 pitches to get an out and 56 to close the frame, the most since Russ Ortiz of the Giants threw 62 second-inning balls to the Cards in 1999. In lieu of an MLB mercy rule, utilityman Josh VanMeter finished it up, giving up two runs on 18 offerings to finally close the book.