5/6 From 1960: Ray POTM; Sluggin' Sid; Chad, Frankie, Jim Gems; Never Say Die; Boomin' Bats; Walk-Offs; Game Tales; HBD Yohan

• 1968 - The Bucs’ Jim Bunning and the Bravos’ Pat Jarvis hooked up in a duel at Atlanta Stadium, with Pittsburgh coming out on top by a 2-1 score as Donn Clendenon’s two-run homer in the fourth frame held up. There was some drama in the eighth when Bunning sprained his ankle (it proved minor; he didn’t miss a start) and Ronnie Kline had to come in cold, but the vet finished up coolly, giving up two hits over the final two frames to save the win for Bunning and the Bucs. 
• 1986 - 2B Johnny Ray was named the NL’s Player of the Month for April. He hit .380 during the month with 18 RBI and was leading the league with a .391 BA. Johnny was the first Pirate to be named POTM since Dave Parker in September, 1978 (John Candelaria was Pitcher of the Month in July, 1983). 
• 1988 - Sid Bream doubled his RBI count by chasing home four runs, including a 12th-inning three-run homer, to propel the Buccos past the Padres, 4-1, in front of 25,045 fans at TRS, many who came to be part of the Pirates pregame ceremony that honored Pittsburgh Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri, who had passed away earlier in the day; the Bucs wore RSC patches on their sleeves. With two gone in the 12th, Andy Van Slyke singled and Bobby Bonilla walked ahead of Bream, who took Mark Davis’ heater over the RF wall. He drove in the first run in the opening frame with a bad-hop single, then stranded five more runners until his homer ended the contest. But the Pirates pitchers were the evening’s heroes - Bob Walk, Jeff Robinson and winner Barry Jones limited the Friars to six hits. 
• 1992 - Jose Lind’s 16th-inning single over a drawn-in infield drove in Don Slaught, who had tripled ahead of him (actually, Ron Gant tried to make a diving catch of Slaught’s bloop, missed it, and Sluggo rumbled into third as the ball rolled to the wall), with the winning run as the Pirates bested the Braves, 4-3, at TRS in a five hour plus marathon. An inning earlier, Slaught was the goat when his throw to third on an attempted steal missed the mark, allowing the Bravos’ to temporarily take the lead. Bob Patterson claimed the win, being the last in a chain of five relievers who worked 11-2/3 innings of near zippo ball, giving up just one unearned run. The Pirates stayed alive twice with two down, getting game-knotting hits from Cecil Espy in the ninth and Jay Bell in the 13th (his rap was an untouched pop that fell between Mark Lemke and David Justice). 

Chico  - 1992 Panini

• 1994 - The Bucs proved to be a good luck charm to Chicago, ending a couple of Chi-Town losing streaks. The Cubs' 10-1 victory over the Pirates ended pitcher Anthony Young's personal 27-game losing streak and also snapped Chicago’s record 14-game winless string at Wrigley. 
• 1995 - RHP Yohan Ramirez was born in Villa Mella, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was signed by the Astros in 2016 and later taken by Seattle in the 2019 Rule 5 Draft. He debuted the next year. 2022 was his change-of-address campaign; going from Seattle to Cleveland, where he was quickly DFA’ed and sold to the Pirates in July. Yohan served as a yo-yo depth piece for all three teams, whiffing 10+ per game but with big home run and walk rates in his MLB outings. His Pittsburgh numbers for the year were solid (3-1-1/3.67 in 22 games) after he was brought up in August. Y-Ram started 2023 at Indy but after a hot start was recalled in mid-April when Rob Zastrynzy was hurt. He was released in early September and has since his Pittsburgh stint, he’s worked for the Chicago White Sox, NY Mets, and currently is with the Baltimore Orioles. 
• 1999 - The Pirates were the poster boys for a balanced attack in a 13-3 romp over the St. Louis Cards at Busch Stadium. All eight position starters had hits (six had multiple knocks, led by Carlos Garcia with three raps), all eight drove in runs (Garcia again led the parade with three), and seven of them scored (Brian Giles & Kevin Young plated three times to keep trips the vibe for the night). Todd Ritchie was the fortunate run recipient and went seven innings for the win. 
• 2000 - The Pirates put up six runs in the ninth inning to rally past the Cubs at Wrigley Field by an 11-9 count. With two away in the final frame and still down a run after plating three times, Wil Cordero tripled on a 1-2 pitch to knot the score, Pat Meares doubled in the go-ahead run and Mike Benjamin’s single added the insurance tally. Brian Giles and Luis Sojo homered earlier in the contest and had five RBI between them to help counter three Cub homers. 

Wil Cordero - 2000 MLB Showdown

• 2001 - Aramis Ramirez hit the second walkoff in PNC Park history (Jason Kendall’s homer was the first on 4/22) with a single in the 11th frame after Kendall’s leadoff triple was followed by two intentional walks as the Pirates defeated the Colorado Rockies, 4-3. Ramirez, Kendall (he also homered), Brian Giles and Pat Meares each banged out two hits. Kendall did the heavy lifting until A-Ram’s rap, posting three RBIs and two runs scored, including the game winner. Joe Beimel, the Buccos fifth moundsman, spun three scoreless innings to earn the overtime victory. 
• 2014 - The Pirates won the first-ever MLB walk-off victory that was determined by review against the SF Giants at PNC Park. After reliever Tony Watson, in for Charlie Morton, left G-Men on the corners in the ninth, Starling Marte batted against starter Tim Hudson with two gone and banged a ball high off the Clemente Wall. He raced to third and headed home when the throw skipped by the base. In a bang-bang play at the dish, ump Quinn Wolcott called Marte out. Clint Hurdle challenged the decision, and the replay showed that C Buster Posey had missed the tag, giving the Bucs a 2-1 win. 
• 2016 - The Pirates held on to beat the St Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, 4-2. Frankie Liriano’s 10 strikeout workday and the return of Jung Ho Kang led the charge to victory. Liriano’s outing was marred only by a two-base wild pitch, which brought home the first run and set up the other. Kang had missed almost eight months to a gruesome leg/knee injury and was making his first MLB appearance since September. He started meekly, hitting into a DP and then popping out. But then he found his mojo, homering in back-to-back at bats and plating three runs. 
• 2018 - Chad Kuhl’s prior outing featured four homers surrendered in 4-2/3 frames, but today he was in command, tossing seven innings of one-hit, eight-whiff ball against the Brewers at Miller Park as the Pirates breezed to a 9-0 win. Richard Rodriguez mopped up; he gave up a single while striking out everyone else. Adam Frazier, Josh Bell and Jordy Mercer launched solo home runs mixed among the Bucs' 13 hits. Mercer and Corey Dickerson had three hits and Frazier two to lead the batsmen in a team effort; six Pirates drove in runs and seven touched home.