By Bobster

July 22, 1960---Vinegar Bend Mizell raised his Pirate record to 5-2 with a victory over the SF Giants. Mizell gave up a run in the 1st inning when Willie Mays hit his 19th HR. The Giants also had at least 1 hit in each of the first 7 innings and left the bases loaded in the 3rd. Mizell went the distance, giving up 1 run, 9 hits and 2 BBs with 2 Ks. The Bucs turned 3 DPs behind Mizell. The Giants led 1-0 until the 5th inning when Cimoli started a 3-run rally with a lead-off single.

By Bobster

July 21, 1960---Vern Law’s strong outing salvaged one game of the Dodger series on the same day the Braves’ 7-game winning streak was ended, increasing the Pirates’ hold on first place to 1½ games. Law (12-5) snapped a personal 3-game losing streak and gained his 11th complete game of the season.

By Bobster

July 20, 1960----Another loss to the Dodgers put the Pirates’ hold on first place at only a half-game over the red-hot Milwaukee Braves, who won their 7th in a row. Right-hander George Witt, recently recalled from AAA where he had been rehabbing his sore arm, started for the Pirates (51-35) against All-Star Stan Williams of the Dodgers.

By Bobster

July 19, 1960---In Los Angeles, the Pirates couldn’t hold a 4-0 lead with one of their aces on the mound. Bob Friend opposed Don Drysdale in the first game of a 3-game series against the Dodgers. The Pirates got to Drysdale immediately in the first inning when Virdon led off with a double and scored on Groat’s single. In the second inning with Mazeroski aboard on a single and two outs, Virdon hit his fourth HR of the season to make it 3-0. Drysdale was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 2nd inning trailing 3-0.

By Bobster

July 18, 1960---The Pirates (51-33) were off as they traveled to Los Angeles to start a western road trip. The Bucs had a 2½ game lead over the second-place Braves. Groat (.326) and Clemente (.324) led the Pirates in hitting. Clemente and Skinner led the team with 55 RBIs. Though hitting only .242, Stuart had begun to assert his power and led the Pirates with 13 HRs, despite often platooning at 1B with Rocky Nelson. Now seeing significantly more playing time, Nelson had responded with a .317 average, 6 HRs and 22 RBIs. Catchers Burgess (.301) and Smith (.284) remained valuable offensive contributors and Virdon was riding a hot streak that had raised his average to .266. Virdon and Skinner tied for the team lead in SBs with 7.

By Bobster

July 17, 1960---The Pirates and Reds split a doubleheader. The Reds took game 1 behind Bob Purkey when they scored 1 in the 5th and 5 in the 6th against Vern Law (11-5) to take a 6-0 lead. That was all the runs the Reds would get, as Green, Gibbon and Face combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. The Pirates made it 6-1 in the 6th when Reds second baseman Billy Martin-the future Yankees manager-booted Nelson’s grounder after the Bucs had loaded the bases on singles by Virdon and Groat and a walk to Skinner.

By Bobster
July 16, 1960

Having scored just 1 run in their last 18 innings, the Pirates wasted no time, taking a 2-0 lead in the home half of the 1st inning against Jay Hook and the Reds. Roberto Clemente doubled home 2 runs after Hook had walked Groat, Skinner and Nelson in succession to load the bases. But the Reds came back in the 4th against Vinegar Bend Mizell. The Reds’ rally started with back-to-back doubles by Eddie Kasko and Vada Pinson. Pinson attempted to steal third and appeared to be out, but Burgess’ throw was dropped by Hoak for an error. Pinson scored the tie run on a ground out. Later in the inning, Mizell walked Frank Robinson and gave up a single to Ed Bailey before Roy McMillan’s 2-run double made it 4-2

July 15, 1960
By Bobster

July 15, 1960---A day after being shutout by the Braves, the Pirates were blanked for the first 7 innings against Cincinnati and lost 4-1 to the Reds.

By Bobster
July 14, 1960

Addendum to July 11 note: Bob Skinner started the first of the two All-Star games (along with Friend and Mazeroski). I inadvertently left him out when mentioning the Pirate starters for that game. Skinner was 1 for 4 in that game, getting an RBI single in the first inning following Willie Mays’ lead-off triple.

July 14, 1960---The All-Star break was cut short for the Pirates and Braves, who had to make up the rainout of the second game of their Memorial Day doubleheader. As the second half of the season began, the Pirates were clearly the team to beat in the NL

By Bobster

July 13, 1960---The second 1960 All-Star game featured a shutout by the N.L. pitchers. It also featured a matchup of Vern Law against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.