By Bill Brink and Jenn Menendez / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
November 9, 2013
Post-Gazette baseball writers Bill Brink and Jenn Menendez recount the 25 most memorable moments of the most memorable Pittsburgh Pirates season along the three rivers in a generation.
Pedro Alvarez, right, helped break open Game 2 with his third-inning blast. (Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)
1. ’CUE-TO! CUE-TO!’
October 1
“Cue-to. Cue-to. Cue-to” came the chants from the crowd, in unison, as Cincinnati Reds ace Johnny Cueto imploded in the second inning of the wild-card game in Pittsburgh. The Pirates were up 1-0. The count was 2-1 on catcher Russell Martin. He stepped out of the batters box as the chants grew louder. Cueto then literally dropped the ball amid the noise, and it fell, limply, to the ground. He bent over to pick it up, Martin stepped back in the box and on the next pitch crushed a solo homer to left center to make it 2-0 Pirates. The crowd erupted. A moment was etched in Pirates lore.
2. Alvarez vs. Siegrist
October 3
October 3
Pedro Alvarez came to the plate with the scored tied, 3-3, in the bottom of the eighth inning of Game 3 in the National League Division Series. Justin Morneau had reached on a fielder’s choice and Marlon Byrd walked, putting men on first and second. St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny brought in rookie left-hander Kevin Siegrist, who had allowed eight hits in 68 at-bats against lefties in the regular season. Alvarez has a career .200 average against lefties, including 179 strikeouts in 471 plate appearances, yet manager Clint Hurdle let him hit. Alvarez chopped an RBI single to right field. The hit scored pinch-runner Josh Harrison to break the tie, and the Pirates won to take a 2-1 series lead.
3. No. 82 September 9
This moment was 21 years in the making — 21 long, heartbreaking, painful years in the making. But finally, the Pirates got win No. 82 in Arlington against the Texas Rangers to mark a winning season at long last. Pedro Alvarez drove in the winning run with a two-out double in the seventh, scoring Marlon Byrd from second base for the 1-0 win. The clubhouse hardly marked the moment and kept their sights on the division title. But back in Pittsburgh there was jubilation. The Pirates were losers no more.
4. Byrd’s HR in the wild-card game October 1
Marlon Byrd spent 12 years in the major leagues without a trip to the postseason. That included a winter in the Mexican Leagues as a last ditch effort to pump life back into his career. When he finally got there, it took him one at-bat to make an impact. Byrd came to the plate in the second inning of the wild-card game and crushed a hanging changeup over the left field wall off Johnny Cueto to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
5. Morneau’s throw September 23
Starling Marte had already bailed out Mark Melancon. Now Justin Morneau would need to help Marlon Byrd. Marte had broken the 1-1 tie against the Chicago Cubs with a ninth-inning home run, one inning after Melancon allowed the Cubs to tie it up. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Nate Schierholtz on first, Ryan Sweeney singled to right. Byrd bobbled the ball, but Andrew McCutchen fielded it and returned it to the middle of the infield. Morneau, drifting over from first base, relayed it home to Russell Martin to keep Schierholtz from scoring and end the game. “I saw him send him at third so I kind of peeked up,” Morneau said after the game. Minutes later, the Pirates’ win combined with the Washington Nationals’ loss secured a playoff berth for the first time since 1992.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/2013/11/10/2013-Pittsburgh-Pirates-season-remembered-moment-by-moment/stories/201311090164#ixzz2kFIb4IQd
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