July 27, 1969, Pittsburgh: Pirates 4, Padres 1 (box score)

Clay Kirby and Jim Bunning kept the game scoreless until the fourth. Then, in the bottom half of the inning, Roberto Clemente knocked a one-out single to center, advancing to second on an error by Ivan Murrell. One out later, with Manny Sanguillen at the plate, Kirby uncorked a wild pitch, moving Clemente to third. Sanguillen followed with a single to left, scoring Clemente and putting the Pirates up, 1-0.

Pittsburgh added to its lead in the sixth. With one out, Stargell tripled to right and Clemente singled him home.

The next inning, the Padres finally got on the board. With Nate Colbert on second and two out, Murrell doubled to cut the Pirates’ lead to 2-1.

In the eighth, Pittsburgh put the finishing touches on their victory. Stargell led off the inning with a homer off reliever Jack Baldschun. After Clemente and Richie Hebner singled, the Padres summoned Frank Reberger from the ‘pen. Reberger promptly induced Sanguillen to rap into a double play, but it was enough to score Clemente and give the Pirates an insurmountable 4-1 lead.

The Padres had lost the game and the four-game series in Pittsburgh. Kirby saw his record fall to 3-13 in front of 14,888 at Forbes Field. Next stop: St. Louis…

Tagged as: Baseball, forbes_field, jim_bunning, manny_sanguillen, nate_colbert, padres, pirates, pittsburgh_pirates, richie_hebner, roberto_clemente, san_diego_padres