STENNETT, BUCS RESCUE CANDYMAN WITH LATE COMEBACK
Candelaria Loses No-Hitter in 8th
PITTSBURGH, Aug. 4 (AP) - Rennie Stennet's two-out bases clearing double in the
bottom of the ninth inning off Bill Grief gave the Pittsburgh Pirates an
unlikely 4-3 comeback victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Three Rivers
Stadium. Stennett's three-run two-bagger made a winner out of Pirates
starter John Candelaria, who trailed 3-1 entering the ninth despite taking a
no-hitter into the eighth. Candelaria settled for a complete game
two-hitter but was on the hook for the loss before the late heroics of the
Pittsburgh offense. Cardinals starter Bob Forsch was the hard luck loser.
The Pirates seized the lead in the bottom of the first inning when Stennett led
off with a double, moved to third on Richie Hebner's ground out and scored on
Dave Parker's soft ground out to the left side of the infield.
The Cardinals tied the game without the benefit of a hit in the top of the
fourth. Lou Brock drew a lead-off four-pitch walk. After Don
Kessinger flied out, Brock stole second and advanced to third when catcher Duffy
Dyer's throw sailed into center field. Joe Ferguson then lined out to
center and was credited with a sacrifice fly when Brock tagged and scored to
knot the game at a run apiece.
The score remained tied until the eighth. Both pitchers were
brilliant. Brock's walk represented the only baserunner surrendered by
Candelaria through seven innings. Forsch, meanwhile, allowed a harmless
two-out single to Ed Kirkpatrick in the fourth and pitched around a pair of
infield errors in the fifth, but took a two-hitter of his own into the eighth
inning.
In the top of the eighth, Mike Anderson led off with a sharp ground ball to the
left of shortstop Mario Mendoza who made a diving stop but was unable to throw
Anderson out at first base. The infield single was the first hit of the
game for St. Louis. Hector Cruz sacrificed Anderson to second and Jerry
Mumphrey's ground out to first advanced the runner to third. Doug Clarey
was called upon to pinch hit for Lee Richard. With first base open and
Forsch on deck the Pirates elected to walk Clarey intentionally. Now it
was Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst's turn to make a decision and he chose to
allow his starting pitcher, who was batting just .140, to hit for himself.
Forsch made the call pay off by slapping an 0-1 offering past third baseman
Hebner and down the left field line. Anderson scored easily and Clarey
beat the relay from Mendoza to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.
Forsch pitched around Hebner's one-out infield single to hold Pittsburgh
scoreless in the bottom of the eighth and Candelaria needed only eight pitches
to retire the Cardinals in order in the top of the ninth.
In the bottom of the ninth Forsch walked Richie Zisk to open the frame but
retired Kirkpatrick on a fly to right and induced pinch hitter Ed Ott to roll
into a 6-4 fielder's choice. The Pirates were down to their final out as
Al Oliver was summoned to pinch hit for Mendoza. Forsch uncorked a wild
pitch, moving Ott to second and ultimately walked Oliver, bringing the potential
winning run to the plate. Despite a depleted bullpen following the
previous day's doubleheader, Schoendienst told Grief to get warm. Bill
Robinson hit for Candelaria and grounded a 2-1 pitch through the middle for a
base hit, filling the bases. With Stennett due and Forsch apparently on
fumes, Schoendienst took a slow walk to the mound and called on Grief. On
a 1-1 pitch Stennett drilled a shot to the gap in left-center field that went
all the way to the wall. With the runners off on contact, the Cardinals
never had a chance; Robinson scored the game-winning run without so much as
drawing a throw to the plate.
Over the last two days, covering three games, Stennett is 8-for-16 with four
doubles, six runs scored and seven driven in.
8/4/1976, StL76-Pit76, Three Rivers Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Cardinals 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 3 2 2 1 0 1976 Pirates 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 5 1 7 0 Cardinals AB R H BI AVG Pirates AB R H BI AVG Brock lf 3 1 0 0 .328 Stennett 2b 5 1 2 3 .222 Kessinger ss 4 0 0 0 .237 Hebner 3b 4 0 1 0 .244 Ferguson c 3 0 0 1 .232 Parker,D rf 4 0 0 1 .328 Simmons 1b 4 0 0 0 .273 Stargell 1b 4 0 0 0 .240 Anderson rf 3 1 1 0 .279 Zisk lf 2 0 0 0 .297 Cruz,Hec 3b 2 0 0 0 .200 Kirkpatrick cf 3 0 1 0 .305 Mumphrey cf 3 0 0 0 .237 Dyer c 3 0 0 0 .303 Richard,L 2b 2 0 0 0 .111 Ott ph 1 1 0 0 .211 Clarey ph 0 1 0 0 .000 Mendoza ss 3 0 0 0 .203 Forsch,B p 3 0 1 2 .157 Oliver ph 0 1 0 0 .323 Greif p 0 0 0 0 .000 Candelaria p 3 0 0 0 .196 27 3 2 3 Robinson,Bi ph 1 1 1 0 .292 33 4 5 4 Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Forsch,B L 4-12 8.2 4 4 4 4 1 128 77 4.50 Greif BS 3 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 6.11 8.2 5 4 4 4 1 131 79 Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Candelaria W 11-4 9.0 2 3 2 2 6 113 69 2.59 9.0 2 3 2 2 6 113 69 StL: Clarey batted for Richard,L in the 8th Clarey moved to 2b in the 8th Pit: Ott batted for Dyer in the 9th Oliver batted for Mendoza in the 9th Robinson,Bi batted for Candelaria in the 9th E-Kessinger, Cruz,Hec, Dyer. 2B-Forsch,B(2), Stennett 2(26). RBI-Ferguson(37), Forsch,B 2(2), Stennett 3(32), Parker,D(42). SB-Brock(42). K-Brock, Ferguson, Simmons, Anderson 2, Cruz,Hec, Dyer. BB-Brock, Clarey, Zisk 2, Kirkpatrick, Oliver. SH-Cruz,Hec. SF-Ferguson. WP-Forsch,B. GWRBI: Stennett Temperature: 68, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind: right to left at 9 MPH. Attendance: 6,753 Game Time: 2:25