8/29 From 1985: Ray Dealt; El Coffee - #11,000, J-Hay Day, Kris & Wags Gems, 5 For BB, 1STs, Game Tales, S-Rod Goes, Cota Won't

• 1987 - Lotta firsts: Andy Van Slyke hit his first (and only) grand slam off Larry Andersen with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to ice an 8-2 win against the Houston Astros at TRS, extending the Bucco win streak to five games. Mike LaValliere went deep for the first time on the season and Mike Bielecki picked up his first win of the campaign while tossing the first complete game of his career. He almost had his first MLB shutout, too, tossing goose eggs into the ninth (he would finally author a whitewash in 1989). His six-hitter topped Nolan Ryan and Larry Anderson. Bobby Bonilla added three hits, including a double, and chased home three runs. Not all the moments were firsts but continuations: the Ryan Express passed the 200+ K mark for a record 11th year. 
• 1987 - The Pirates traded 2B Johnny Ray to the Angels for two minor leaguers, 3B Bill Merrifield and LHP Miguel Garcia in one of Syd Thrift’s few bloopers. With Jose Lind in the wings, the Pirates thought Ray, whose range had diminished noticeably at age 30, was expendable after seven years and a .286 BA. Maybe he was, but the Bucs sure didn’t get much - Merrifield never played for Pittsburgh and Garcia made 13 Pirate appearances with a 7.71 ERA. Meanwhile, Ray won an All-Star berth and hit .296 in four seasons for the Halos before closing his career in Japan. Ray’s agent said that the 2B had demanded the trade after GM Thrift brought up Lind, claiming that Chico would cut into Ray’s playing time and cost him bonus money. The two sides had been cool since spring training when an expected (by Ray) contract extension didn’t happen, soooo... 
• 1988 - LHP Dave LaPoint became the first Pirate starter to begin his Pittsburgh career with three one-run or fewer starts when he whipped the Reds, 8-1, at Riverfront Stadium. He was obtained for reliever Barry Jones in August from the White Sox and finished the year 4-2/2.77 for the Buccos. Dave then signed with the Yankees as a FA the following season. 
• 1990 - Barry Bonds went 3-for-4 with five RBI to lead the Bucs to a 10-0, rain-shortened seven inning win over the Braves at Atlanta-Fulton Stadium. Jeff King added three RBI, two off sac flies, as Doug Drabek won his 17th contest. The game ended a four-game losing streak and followed a clubhouse meeting held by manager Jim Leyland after a lackadaisical 9-0 loss the night before.

Doug Drabek - 1990 Leaf

• 1995 - RHP Paul Wagner came within one strike of a no-hitter with a one-hit, 11K, 4-0 win over the Rox at TRS. With two away in the ninth, 1B Andres Galarraga chopped a 3-2 pitch past the mound and over second, where Nelson Liriano made the grab but couldn’t beat The Big Cat to first with his throw. For Wags, it was just his third win against 13 losses, and the victory snapped a six-game Pittsburgh losing string, so all’s well that ends well despite the soft hit. 
• 1998 - The Historical Society of Carnegie dedicated a marker recognizing Honus Wagner on the corner of Mansfield Boulevard and Chartiers Avenue, across the street from the house he was born and raised in. The site was selected after a public vote. The tablet stated “Honus Wagner, 1874-1955, The Flying Dutchman. Hailed as baseball’s greatest shortstop and all-around player...” 
• 2000 - Kris Benson shutout the Giants, 8-0, at TRS. He gave up one hit in eight frames, a first-inning single to Barry Bonds, along with five walks and seven strikeouts. The Pirates banged four doubles (two by Enrique Wilson), a triple and a homer (John Vander Wal) off Livian Hernandez, who only managed six outs before getting the hook. The performance highlighted his home cookin’ line at TRS - he slashed 7-4/2.78 at home and 3-8/5.23 on the road during the season. 
• 2003 - C Humberto Cota was suspended without pay and removed from the 40-man roster for refusing to play for AAA Nashville. He had hurt his hand in winter ball during the 2002-03 off season and told the Sounds he was injured and in too much pain to keep on playing after he was sent down by the Pirates, a diagnosis not shared by the team docs. Cota took 2-1/2 months off to rest his paw, then got back in shape by playing some winter ball outfield. The Bucs reinstated him and invited him to camp, where he won a backup role in 2004, allowing Craig Wilson to move to the OF. He held down an off-and-on bench spot through 2007, and even played a career-high 98 games in 2005 after Jason Kendall was traded to the Oakland A’s during the previous winter. 

Humberto Cota - 2003 Topps Total

• 2006 - The Pirates scored twice in the 11th on an error and a bases loaded walk to defeat the Cubs 7-6 at PNC Park. Matt Capps, the sixth Pirate pitcher, picked up the win while Xavier Nady went 3-for-5 with a double and a couple of runs scored. The Cubs had jumped out to a 4-0 lead; the Bucs tied it in the sixth, then the clubs exchanged tallies in the seventh to set up some bonus baseball. It was also notable as the first “Pup Night” at the yard; 200 tickets were reserved for furry fans, and it was a howling success that is still carried on. 
• 2012 - The Pirates made their last push of the year by dropping the Cards by a 5-0 score behind Wandy Rodriguez at PNC Park. Pedro Alvarez banged a three-run homer to lead the attack. The Bucs moved within a game of the wildcard, having shut out the Redbirds 9-0 the day before with Petey adding another pair of homers and four RBI in support of James McDonald. It was just a tease; Pittsburgh finished September 7-21 and ended the season with just 79 wins. 
• 2014 - It was Josh Harrison day at PNC Park against the Cincinnati Reds. Presented with the Heart & Hustle Award before the game, J-Hay had the key hit in the Pirates come-from-behind, 2-1, win. His triple off Jonathan Broxton scored Andrew Lambo to tie the game in the eighth inning, and Josh came home with the game winner on Jose Tabata’s chopper through a drawn-in infield. Not only did J-Hay have three hits, but made several web-gem plays during the contest, the best of the bunch being a diving stop that he turned into a 5-3 DP and a hustling chase of a bad relay that led to a thrown out runner at home. Edinson Volquez had a no-hitter through six frames, but was in line for a loss after Tony Watson, in relief with two outs in the eighth, allowed a soft single to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Watson got the win after Mark Melancon tossed a perfect ninth for the save. The game was played before a sellout crowd of 37,209 fans. 
• 2016 - Gregory Polanco blasted a three-run, opposite field home run off the Cubs Jake Arrieta at Wrigley Field for the 11,000th homer in Pirates history. Josh Bell added his second career home run with another oppo taco, a solo shot in the fourth inning off Arrieta in a 5:03, 13-inning contest that the Bucs eventually lost, 8-7. Pittsburgh loaded the bases with no outs in the final inning, but could only chase home one run on a Josh Harrison sac fly. It didn’t hold up long - Jeff Locke couldn’t get an out in his second inning of relief, and Chicago took home the bacon.

Trevor Williams - 2018 Pirates image

• 2018 - Trevor Williams went six innings of three-hit, scoreless ball with a career-high eight strikeouts and the bullpen (Edgar Santana, Keone Kela and Felipe Vazquez) took care of the rest as the Pirates dropped the Cards, 2-0, at Busch Stadium. A little small ball paid off in the fifth as the Bucs used a bunt, bloop and hit-and-run to generate the scores with Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco driving in the runs. Polanco, Corey Dickerson and Adam Frazier each had a pair of hits while Marte and Jordy Mercer scored to generate the attack, as it was. 
• 2018 - Utilityman Sean Rodriguez, in his second go-around with the Pirates, was DFA’ed when Jordy Mercer came off the DL. S-Rod joined the Pirates in the winter of 2014 after a trade with Tampa Bay for P Buddy Borden, hit .246, and signed for another season at $2.5 M. He hit .270 w/18 HR and was a NL Player of the Week in 2016, then signed a two-year, $11.5 M deal with the Atlanta Braves. He injured his rotator cuff in a car accident and was traded back to the Pirates in 2017 for 1B/OF Connor Joe. In his first game back with the Pirates, he hit a walk-off home run, but it went downhill after that. S-Rod hit .168 for the Bucs over the remainder of the campaign and .167 the following year before he was let go. He played every position except pitcher/catcher while with the club. He last saw action with Miami in 2020 and is now a Phils player development coach. 
• 2019 - The Pirates sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored seven times against Colorado at Coors Field, then hung on to finally take an 11-8 victory. Kevin Newman led off with a homer with two hits in the opening frame and had four on the night, including a second dinger. Adam Frazier also chipped in four hits and Jose Osuna added a homer. The Pirates had an eight-run lead in the eighth, only to see the Rockies tee off on the bullpen and make it interesting at 11-8. Felipe Vazquez came on to get a drama-free save of Trevor William’s win.