After Sunday's amazing finish and win against the Padres, a friend of mine gave me the idea to put together a list of the top Pirate games in the past ten seasons. I had such a good time putting this list together as it brought back so many great Pirate memories. With 162 games in the season, it is impossible for me to remember them all, but here are the one's that I will never forget!!
Pirates Clinch First Playoff Appearance since 1992
September 24, 2013. Not only did the Pirates clinch their first playoff birth since 1992, but they did it in thrilling fashion against the Cubs. Up 1-0 in the 8th, the "shark," Mark Melancon, of all pitchers, gave up a run to make it 1-1 going into the 9th. Marte then came up with a clutch HR in the top of the 9th to make it 2-1. Jason Grilli came in for the save and the Pirates ended up winning in thrilling fashion with Cutch making a throw to the plate where Russell Martin applied the tag for the last out to win the game. What a way to clinch a playoff birth and their 90th win!!
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| SI.com |
Cueto!! Cueto!!!
October 1, 2013. No surprise here. This is a game that will live on in Pittsburgh sports history. The black out crowd was absolutely rocking and you would have thought the building was going to come down when Russell Martin hit a HR after Cueto famously dropped the ball on the mound. Being a young Pirates fan, this was my first taste of October baseball and it could not have been any sweeter.
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| gfycat.com |
Cutch Walk Off vs. Cardinals in 14th Inning
July 11, 2015. This is easily one of the best moments I have had as a Pirates fan. Pirates came back from being down multiple times with some amazing plays such as tying the game at 4-4 after a Jung Ho Kang triple in the bottom of the 10th and an amazing catch by S-Rod in the top of the 12th... And then came the 14th inning. Pirates went down 5-4 and it seemed their luck had finally run out. Then Cutch came to the plate and the rest is history. PNC Park absolutely erupted and Greg Brown had one of his famous calls saying, "You can call it maybe the best all time in Pittsburgh."
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| usatoday.com |
Polanco Walk Off vs. Cardinals in 10th Inning
July 12, 2015. Potentially two of the best back to back days in Pirate history. It was Sunday night baseball and the city was riding high after the amazing walk off by Cutch the night before; I was so hyped that I bought tickets and was at this game!! How could the Pirates match their performance from the night before? Down 5-3 in the bottom of the 10th, they do it again and comeback; all done with two outs!!! Cervelli's hit tied it and Greg Brown was heard yelling "Vita Bella, Vita Bella!!" over and over again. Then Polanco came up with the bases loaded to send the Pirates riding high into the All-Star break on their way to a 98 win season.
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| mlb.com |
Pirates Double Comeback against the Padres
June 23, 2019. The game that inspired this list. I will admit, I thought the Pirates had lost that game on three different occasions. The bucs kept battling and came back from down three runs twice, once in the 9th and in the 11th! That has not happened since 1930!! To cap it off, Kevin Newman drew a walk off walk. What a game!
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| foxsports.com |
After putting this list together, it made me realize there is truly nothing better in this city than when the Pirates are really good. We love our baseball here and have seen some amazing moments!
I know there are some great moments out there that I have missed, so help me out and let me know some of your top Pirate moments in the last ten years! Thanks for reading and Let's Go Bucs!
-Aaron, TGYK
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