4/29 From 1990: Pups Yap, Kingly Debut, Nova Maddux, Cutch - 1,000, Movin' Up, Big Boppers, Game Days, Indy No-No; HBD Rookie & Steven

• 1990 - The Bucs beat San Diego 10-1 behind a four homer barrage at Jack Murphy Stadium to sweep the set. Barry Bonds homered & scored four times with three RBI, Jay Bell hit a three-run bomb, Bobby Bonilla banged a two-run blast, and Don Slaught added a solo shot to grease the wheels for Doug Drabek. It was the on-fire Pirates sixth consecutive win and their 10th in 11 games. They also made a housekeeping move: the rosters needed to be reduced from 27 to 25 players (a league concession was made to carry a couple of extra hands for a month after the short spring camps caused by the owner’s lockout) so C Tom Prince and RHP Mike Roesler were sent to AAA Buffalo. 
• 1992 - LHP Steven Brault was born in La Mesa, California. Drafted by the Orioles in 2013, he was sent to the Pirates as part of the Travis Snider deal. The lefty moved through the system quickly and in July of 2016 made his MLB debut. He slashed 0-3/4.86 but was in the running for a back-end rotation spot in 2017 camp, where he pitched well but lost out to Tyler Glasnow and was returned to Indy. He returned later in the year (1-0/4.67) and broke camp with the Bucs in 2018 as a long man and spot starter, becoming a regular back-end starter in 2019. Brault posted a 3.38 ERA in 10 starts in 2020, but began the 2021 campaign on ice with a lat strain. He came back in August, and the Bucs DFA’ed him after the campaign. He signed with the Cubs as a NRI - he suffered a triceps injury before camp - and never bounced back, retiring in 2023. 
• 1993 - RHP William “Rookie” Davis was born in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina. Drafted by the Yankees and given a seven-game taste by the Reds in 2017 after being part of the Aroldis Chapman deal, Rookie was signed as a FA by the Bucs in 2019. He got the call from Indy on May 25th and made his first Bucco start on June 7th against the Brewers. His dad, William Theron Davis III, gave him his handle; to differentiate the two, his pops said “Let’s just call him ‘Rookie’.” He retired after the ‘19 campaign and opened The Davis Academy, a baseball training facility. 

Rookie Davis - 2019 photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates

• 2000 - For the true believers in productive outs, this was a game for you - the Pirates and Reds tied the MLB record in Cincinnati's 6-5 victory at TRS by hitting five sacrifice flies (the Redlegs also dropped a pair of successful bunts). Neither club was very clutch other than cranking out flies - the two teams combined to go 1-for-19 w/RISP during the game. Pat Meares and Warren Morris both homered in the losing effort, triggered when Cincy overcame an early Bucco lead by scoring five times in the seventh and eighth innings (with two runs plating on sac flies). 
• 2012 - Pitching for the AAA Indianapolis Indians against the Durham Bulls, lefty Justin Wilson tossed the first 7-1/3 innings of a combined no-hitter (two walks, nine K, 107 pitches), completed by Jose “Jumbo” Diaz and Doug Slaten. He was converted to the pen when he made it to the show, and worked his first Bucco game on August 20th. Wilson later tossed for the NY Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, NY Mets, went back to the Bronx Bombers, became a member of the Boston Red Sox bullpen in ‘25 and is currently a free agent. 
• 2015 - Andrew McCutchen entered the game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field in an early funk with an anemic .179 BA, but left it as the newest member of the 1,000 hit club. Cutch tripled and then legged out an eighth-inning infield rap to reach 1,000 knocks in the Pirates 8-1 win over Chi-town. He became the 33rd Buccaneer to collect at least 1,000 hits and the first since Jack Wilson in 2007 to collect them all with Pittsburgh. Gerrit Cole tossed a three-hitter over six innings for the victory, and combined with three relievers to whiff 14 Cubbies. 
• 2017 - Ivan Nova tossed a 95-pitch, complete-game shutout against Miami at Marlins Park, winning 4-0. His "Maddux" (a complete game shutout under 100 pitches) was the first for a Bucco since Jeff Karstens posted one on July 15th, 2011 against the Astros. John Jaso homered, but the clinching frame was the sixth when Fish hurlers walked four straight batters (two of them battling back from 0-2 counts) to force in a pair of runs. In Ivan’s 16 Pirates starts, he had more complete games (five) than walks (four), and had yet to hit the 100-pitch mark. 

Nick Kingham - 4/29/2018 Topps Now

• 2018 - Nick Kingham had a debut to remember as he retired the first 20 batters he faced in a 5-0 win over the Cardinals at PNC Park. He gave up a two-out single to Paul DeJong in the seventh, finishing with a one-hit, nine-K outing in his first MLB game. The Elias Sports Bureau said no pitcher in the Expansion Era (since 1961) had taken a perfect game bid so far in his debut. Wayne Simpson of the Reds in 1970 and Ken Cloude of the Mariners in 1997 each set down their first 16 batters. Kingham joined Johnny Cueto as the only pitchers in the last 100 years with one hit allowed, at least nine strikeouts and zero walks in a debut. The contest itself was a scoreless duel between Nick and Luke Weaver before the Bucs broke it open with four runs in the sixth, keyed by a two-run single by Elias Diaz, who had three hits on the day. It was the Pirates fifth straight victory and gave them their earliest 17th win in franchise history. Nick, after that dazzling intro, didn’t live up to his early promise; the Pirates sold his contract to Toronto in 2019, then he tossed in Korea, Mexico and China before retiring in 2023. 
• 2020 - The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced that it canceled the 2020 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend events due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the Museum itself had been closed since March. The ceremonies have been eliminated several times before for various reasons, but this was the first year without an induction ceremony since 1961, when there were no new members elected. The 2020 class received their proper dues in 2021 during a combined September ceremony with the following group of HoF’ers. 
• 2023 - Holy moly, whatta day! The Bucs swept a split twin bill from Washington at Nationals Park by 6-3 and 16-1 counts, with warm and fuzzy vibes rockin’ the house that Pirates pups took over on this day. Drew Maggi, after 13 years on the farm, banged his first MLB hit, an RBI single, and followed by scoring after a double while knowing he was going back to Altoona the next day. Cody Bolton got his first big league whiff during his two-inning debut while posting a zero. Miguel Andujar, just called up from Indy, homered in both matches, Jack Suwinski swatted his first grand salami and Vince Velasquez tossed his 18th consecutive scoreless frame, a personal best. The Pirates were rollin’, winning their fourth straight game and 11th of their last 12 to go 20-8.