1969: Niekro Pounded in Fourth, Padres Lose Third Straight
Sun, May 20, 2007
by Geoff Young
May 20, 1969, San Diego: Pirates 6, Padres 3 (box score)
Losers of five straight, including a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium, the Pirates came to town with an 18-18 record that placed them a distant second in the National League East, six games back of Chicago. The club from Pittsburgh featured some outstanding hitters, including Matty Alou, Richie Hebner, and Al Oliver, as well as future Hall of Famers Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente.
The Pirates jumped on San Diego starter Joe Niekro right away. With runners at first and second and one out in the first, Stargell singled home Alou to give Pittsburgh an early 1-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, Stargell led off with a single. After retiring Clemente and Oliver, Niekro ran into trouble with the back end of the Pirates’ lineup. Triples by Manny Sanguillen and Freddy Patek, alternating with singles by Bill Mazeroski and pitcher Jim Bunning, led to a four-run outburst that gave Bunning all the support he would need.
The score remained 5-0 headed into the bottom of the seventh. In that inning, the Padres parlayed four hits and a walk into two runs. They also had a chance to do further damage against Bunning, but left the bases loaded.
The two teams traded runs in the eighth to finish the scoring and give the Pirates a 6-3 victory. The Padres had lost their third consecutive game, in front of a shade under 5,000 fans at San Diego Stadium.
Trivia: After going 0-for-4 in this game, Clemente’s line stood at .225/.304/.313 over 92 plate appearances. He hit .368/.431/.588 the rest of the way, good enough to place him eighth in NL MVP voting.
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