How Could You Possibly Lose? - Pirates vs Phillies 1989
Over the course of a long season for a team, there will be a fair share of blowout games both on the winning and losing side. When such an event occurs, a Manager can take that chance to sit some of his regulars in the late innings, or bring in a lower leverage pitcher from the bullpen who could use the tune up. On the losing side, perhaps the ineffective Starter or Long Reliever can take one for the team and stay out there too long, absorbing punishment if it means saving the other guys in the bullpen from having to pitch and leaving them ready for a game of consequence. Either way, if a team starts blowing out the other guys early enough, the result seems destined and everyone will likely start going through the motions and not play the game like it's life or death...
...usually.
Then there are times when the losing side of a blowout refuses to give in so easily and fight to make it a game again. In such events, the winning side may start to feel a bit of pressure, but they have a big lead to work with so it would take a monumental collapse to lose a game they were once leading by double digits...
So the Pittsburgh Pirates weren't exactly world beaters in 1989, but they were bringing the pieces together and were just a year away from winning the NL East and making a serious run at the World Series. Still, that was a year away, and their 1989 was only destined for a 74-88 finish, but their opponents on June 8 were the Philadelphia Phillies, a team that would finish in last place below the Pirates that season.
As the game got underway at Veterans Stadium, it looked like Pittsburgh was in total control early against their Pennsylvania rival. Barry Bonds led the barrage in the top of the 1st as the Pirates tallied up 10 runs and looked poised to coast to an easy win. Victory seemed so assured that Pirates broadcaster Jim Rooker claimed on air "Well I'll tell you something right now. If we lose this game, I'll walk back to Pittsburgh!"
What could go wrong?
Barry Bonds was batting leadoff on this day, back before his ego (and head) were inflated for...reasons we won't be talking about today. He started things off quietly enough; a simple Walk. He'd advance to 2nd Base on a groundout, then score on Andy Van Slyke's single.
1-0 Pirates. So far so good. A little small ball to open things up, no way to suspect a blowout was brewing...
1-0 Pirates. So far so good. A little small ball to open things up, no way to suspect a blowout was brewing...
Larry McWilliams was the man on the mound for the Phillies to start this game. His card says Reliever, but he was also called upon from time to time to start in '89. As it stands, it may seem that 1IP was accurate for his performance on this day. That groundout he managed would be the only out recorded, as his day would take a very harsh left turn afterwards.
After the Van Slyke single, Bonilla would single as well to keep the pressure on. Gary Redus would follow with a single of his own that scored Van Slyke and allow him and Bonilla to move to 2nd and 3rd.
2-0 Pirates.
2-0 Pirates.
Rookie Jeff King would be intentionally walked next. With 1st Base open, the Phillies needed a double play opportunity for McWilliams to escape this early jam at just 2-0. Sure, King was playing in his 4th game ever and only 2 Hits in his career, but those 2 Hits were Doubles, and the situation called for an IBB with a weak #7 hitter due up.
That weak #7 hitter was Rey Quinones, who responded to the situation by driving a double to left and doubling Pittsburgh's lead.
4-0 Pirates.
4-0 Pirates.
That would be all she wrote for Larry McWilliams, who lasted all 0.1 Innings before the Phillies decided they needed to change pitchers. Enter Steve Ontiveros, who pitched in all of 6 games in 1989, with this being the only time he didn't start. Though with only 1 out in the 1st inning, he might as well have called this a start as well.
Once again the Pirates had 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out, and there wasn't going to be an intentional walk. Junior Ortiz stepped in and earned a standard walk, instead, loading the bases.
You know it's supposed to be a fun day at the office when you're hitting before you take the mound as the visiting pitcher. But hey, good news for the Phillies, the pitcher coming to hit usually means an easy out. Nope! Walk instead singles with the bases loaded, plating 2 more runs. Then Barry Bonds comes up. Now, today we think of Bonds as a Home Run machine, but check his '89 card above to see that homers aren't that common. Still, Barry goes deep for a 3 run blast and the blowout is on.
9-0 Pirates.
9-0 Pirates.
After Jose Lind grounded out again (making him responsible for both outs so far in the inning while the rest of the team was raking), Van Slyke got another single, the Bobby Bonilla walked, setting up Redus to single yet again this inning to once again score Van Slyke. Afterwards, King would walk (unintentionally, this time) to again load the bases for Quinonas, but history wouldn't repeat anymore and this time he grounded out to end the inning. The damage was done though, and the Pirates had a nice big lead before they even had to play defense.
10-0 Pirates.
10-0 Pirates.
Now Bob Walk had to go in and do his day job. With a 10 run lead, he didn't have to be perfect, but it would be important to establish himself. Giving up a 2 run homer to Von Hayes right away wasn't good, but he still had lots of wiggle room. The Pirates would go down 1-2-3 in the 2nd and Walk would work around a leadoff walk in the Philly half to keep the game moving along.
10-2 Pirates.
If the Phillies were going to make this game interesting, they needed someone to step up. Von Hayes answered the challenge when he hit a 2 run homer in the 1st inning, then repeated the trick again in the 3rd inning with another 2 run blast. Bob Walk was recording outs, but the Phillies had cut a sizable chunk out of the lead with 18 outs still to play with.
10-4 Pirates.
10-4 Pirates.
In the 4th inning, Walk allowed another 2 run homer, and the Pirates began to sweat about blowing a 10 run lead, so they went to the bullpen early and marched out Bob Kipper.
10-6 Pirates.
10-6 Pirates.
Oniveros had settled down after the wild 1st inning, but when the pitchers spot in the batting order came up, he was pinch hit for, and the Phillies next turned to Greg Harris to pitch. He'd do what he had to to keep the Pirates bats frozen.
Jose Lind may have been feeling a bit left out when he made 2 of the outs in that 10 run 1st inning. With the Pirates feeling like 10 runs won't be enough, Lind finally checked in with some offense, singling with 2 outs in the 5th to give Pittsburgh some sorely needed hope. After the 1st inning, the team had been 1-13 at the plate before Lind's single.
Lind's hit made the team 2-14 after the 1st inning, and Van Slyke made it 3-15 when he doubled to right-center, allowing Lind to hustle all the way from 1st to score an extra run for Pittsburgh. The Phillies may have been rallying, but the Pirates were finally adding an insurance run.
Everybody breathe. 11-6 Pirates.
Everybody breathe. 11-6 Pirates.
Steve Jeltz had hit the 2 run homer earlier that knocked Walk out of the game, and now he was stepping in to hit in the 6th inning with 2 men on. Just like Von Hayes, he decided to make today a 2 homer day as he knocked a 3 run blast to left field. Jeltz wasn't exactly known for power, as he would only hit five Home Runs in his entire career.
11-9 Pirates.
Barely a week before, the Phillies traded for John Kruk, and here he now was stepping up with 2 outs and hitting a double, bringing the tying run to the plate and ending Bob Kipper's day.
And Ricky Jordan would drive Kruk in with a clutch single. The Phillies had given up 10 1st inning runs, and now they answered back for every one and were now only 1 run back with plenty of baseball to play.
11-10 Pirates.
It's crazy to think that after a 10 run 1st inning that the Pirates would conceive being in a Save situation, let alone a Hold scenario. Yet that's what Bill Landrum entered when he relieved Kipper in the 6th. He gave up a couple hits to allow Kruk to score the 10th Philadelphia run, but he got out of the inning, then pitched a scoreless 7th, meanwhile the Pirate bats were once again silent, offering no more run support.
Don Carman had himself a miserable 1989 where his ERA was over 5.00 and he led the NL with 15 Losses, but on this day he wasn't a unreliable Starter but an ace Reliever as he took over in the 7th with a runner on and 2 outs, pitched around Bonds, then escaped the jam, then pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning to give the Phillies offense a chance.
Next man up for the Pirates was Jeff Robinson as we enter that fateful bottom of the 8th. This was his 3rd appearance in the 4 game series and the Phillies had roughed him up for 3 runs the last time he pitched. He'd get Von Hayes to ground out before he gave up a single to Kruk followed by back to back walks to load the bases. Then he uncorked a Wild Pitch that allowed everyone to move up, including Kruk with the tying run. Pittsburgh called for the batter to be intentionally walked, then Robinson's day was over.
11-11 tie game.
11-11 tie game.
With the bases loaded and a chance to complete the comeback, Darren Daulton delivered with a 2 RBI single that had every fan in Pittsburgh reaching for the nearest alcohol.
13-11 Phillies.
Curt Ford immediately followed with a triple to left, scoring 2 more. He tried for an inside-the-park-homer but was gunned down at the plate. Ford got greedy, but he could afford to be because the damage was done.
15-11 Phillies.
15-11 Phillies.
There wasn't a Save situation in the 9th inning, but the Phillies weren't taking any chances in this crazy game, so they sent in their Closer. Bedrosian handled business and wrapped up the unlikely comeback victory for Philadelphia. Steve would find himself traded not long after this game took place, and it just so happened that his final game for the Phillies was an 15-11 blown game loss.
So just like that, an early 10 run lead mattered for nothing as the Pirates proceeded to waste away the entire lead, leading to an embarrassing defeat to a team that would finish in last place at the end of the season. The game would be later referred to as the "Jim Rooker game" as the Pirates broadcaster would make good on his cocky prediction. After the season, he would head back to Veterans Stadium and embark on his "Unintentional Walk" as he took a 12 day, over 300 mile journey back to Three Rivers Stadium on foot, raising about $100,000 for charity in the process.
The Pirates scored 10 runs in the 1st inning, and still found a way to lose.
