8/6 From 1980: Hechy Deal; Arqui, Aven Gone; Barry Bops; Duke Dazzles; Friar Deal Fizzles; PNC Naming Deal; Work Stoppage; Karstens Conquers; Gems & Game Tales

• 1985 - The players staged a two-day work stoppage over a couple of gnawing financial issues. The MLB quickly agreed to increase its pension contribution and the league’s minimum wage, making the players happy, and the boycotted games were made up later in the season. 
• 1989 - Jeff King smoked an 18th-inning leadoff homer off the Cubs' Scott Sanderson, who had tossed eight innings of shutout relief, to give Pittsburgh a walkoff 5-4 win at Three Rivers Stadium. The game took five hours and 49 minutes to play, tying it for the longest game played in Pittsburgh. Doug Drabek worked the last two frames to earn the win in his only relief outing of the season. The Bucs scored three times in the first inning on an Andy Van Slyke homer and Mike LaValliere RBI knock. Chicago eventually went ahead 4-3 in the ninth frame on a two-out knock; the Bucs answered to tie it on a Barry Bonds sac fly. Each team burned through six pitchers.
• 1990 - Barry Bonds had three hits, falling a double short of the cycle, and five RBI to lead the Bucs to a 10-1 romp over the Philadelphia Phillies at the Vet in the opening game of a twilight twin bill. Randy Tomlin, just called up from Harrisburg, had a two-hit shutout going into the final frame and ended up with a five-hit, complete game victory in his MLB debut. The Pirates swept the doubleheader with a 4-3, 10-inning win in the second game, the key regulation blow being Mike LaValliere’s three-run homer in the sixth inning. The deadlock was broken when Sid Bream doubled home Bobby Bonilla with the deciding run, though RJ Reynolds was cut down trying to plate behind him. Bill Landrum, Pittsburgh’s fifth pitcher, earned the win with two scoreless frames (and some drama when he left the bases loaded in the ninth) to close out the night. 

PNC Park on Opening Day - 2001 photo/Pirates

• 1998 - The Pirates and PNC Bank announced a 20-year marketing deal under which the new home of the Pirates would be named PNC Park when it opened in 2001. Per the agreement, PNC would pay approximately $1.5M a year through the 2020 season. As a side deal, the Sixth Street Bridge would be renamed the Clemente Bridge as a sop to the many who believed the ballyard itself should bear the name of The Great One. PNC signed a 10-year extension in 2021. 
• 2000 - OF Bruce Aven was sent to the Dodgers for a PTBNL per the papers, although the Bucs never received anyone from LA. Baseball Reference categorized it as a conditional deal, so it’s more likely he was sold to the Dodgers (who stashed him in AAA until September) after all was said and done. The move was to clear a spot for Adrian Brown, who was returning from the DL to play center field between Brian Giles and Alex Ramirez, with John Vander Wal in the mix. 
• 2003 - San Diego GM Kevin Towers said that trade efforts for C Jason Kendall and OF Brian Giles of the Bucs were dead, at least until the offseason. The last place Padres were thought to be looking to make a splash before moving into their new digs at Petco Park. The Friar players involved weren’t named, but Post Gazette writer Robert Dvorchak said they were OF Xavier Nady, LHP Ollie Perez, RHP Kevin Jarvis, a probable minor-league add on, with cash from Pittsburgh to help ease Kendall’s contract load. Giles did go to San Diego in the offseason for Perez and Jason Bay, and though X-Man took longer to corral, the Bucs finally landed Nady from the New York Mets in 2006 for Perez and Roberto Hernandez. Kendall was finally shipped to the west coast after the 2004 campaign, but the deal was with the Oakland A’s, not San Diego, netting pitchers Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes, who was quickly flipped to Cleveland for OF Matt Lawton. 
• 2005 - Zach Duke became the second rookie in Pirates history to win his first five decisions as a starter when the Pirates topped the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-4, at PNC Park. The 22-year-old was the first Bucco tyro since Whitey Glazner in 1921 to start 5-0, and none has gone 6-0. Duke’s 0.87 ERA in July was the lowest among all MLB pitchers, and he was named the National League Rookie of the Month. Freddy Sanchez and Chris Duffy combined for seven hits and five runs at the top of the order with Jason Bay knocking in three scores to help Zach. 

Jeff Karstens - 2009 Topps

• 2008 - Jeff Karstens tossed a gem against the Diamondbacks, a two-hit, 2-0, complete game win at Chase Field. He got all the offensive support he needed thanks to a Freddy Sanchez homer and an RBI double from Doug Mientkiewicz. In his second start for the Pirates, he retired the first 23 Arizona batters he faced before Chris Young doubled in the eighth frame. Jeff ran his scoreless streak to 15 innings since being acquired from the New York Yankees. Karstens also banged out his first two career hits, both off The Big Unit, Randy Johnson. 
• 2012 - Eric Bedard, Jason Grilli and Chad Qualls combined for a two-hit, 4-0, win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park. Andrew McCutchen had a pair of hits and scored twice for the Pirates. Freddy Sanchez added a pair of knocks. The Bucs needed three eighth inning runs to put the game away, lighting the scoreboard via four consecutive ground ball singles and a sac fly. 
• 2013 - Josh Harrison led off the bottom of the ninth frame with a walkoff homer to right center off Mike Dunn to give the Pirates and Bryan Morris a 4-3 win over the Miami Marlins at PNC Park. Neil Walker had three hits and Andrew McCutchen added a pair of knocks, along with a late-inning highlight film diving catch, to carry the Buccos to victory over the Fish. 
• 2016 - The Pirates sent RHP Arquimedes Caminero to the Seattle Mariners for a PTBNL and a conditional PTBNL (the Bucs ended up with two low-level minor leaguers). Caminero could touch 100 and went 6-3-1/3.58 for the Pirates from 2015-16 but was inconsistent in ‘16, averaging five walks per/9 IP with a 1.659 WHIP. He went to Japan, retired, and is an Astros farm coach now.

Dovy - 2017 photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates

• 2017 - Jameson Taillon (after a rocky start) and Juan Nicasio were cruising along with a 4-2 lead over the San Diego Padres after eight frames. But Felipe Rivero blew his first save of the campaign by surrendering a pair of runs to send the game into overtime. The Friars had left the bases loaded in the ninth; the Pirates did the same in 10th. A pair of unlikely heroes saved the day. Dovydas Neverauskas, a AAA call up, pitched two scoreless frames and Sean Rodriguez, who was reunited via trade the day before, smacked a walkoff homer in the 12th inning to give Dovy his first MLB win and sent the PNC Park crowd of 34,175 home happy. 
• 2018 - The Pirates sent minor league RHP Matt Seelinger to Tampa Bay for good-glove rental SS Adeiny Hechavarria and cash to bolster the middle of the infield after Hechy had cleared August waivers. The move was a mild surprise, with 2015 first-rounder Kevin Newman and utility IF Max Moroff, who had seen time with the Bucs, both available for call up from AAA Indianapolis as middle infield reserves. They lost out to experience as the Pirates were still in the running for a wildcard spot and opted for a veteran. Still, the Buccos fell short of the postseason. 
• 2020 - Kevin Newman delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single up the middle in the ninth inning to lift the Pirates to a 6-5 win against the Twins. The walkoff was the 125th for the Pirates in PNC Park history. Minny jumped off to a 3-0 first inning lead; Gregory Polanco whacked his first home run of the season, a 446-foot three-run shot that bounced into the Allegheny River in the second to knot the score. Newman’s clutch knock gave Sam Howard his first win as a Pirate.