By Bobster

Monday, August 1, 1960---The Pirates were off as they traveled back to Pittsburgh to host the Dodgers. The Bucs had a team batting average of .270. That averaged was helped by the ability of the Pirate pitchers to swing the bat. Fred Green was hitting .375 with 2 HRs. Jim Umbricht had a .333 average before being optioned to AAA. Joe Gibbon was batting .231. Tom Cheney had a .222 average. Harvey Haddix was hitting .209 and Face had a .200 average. Bennie Daniels left with a .188 average and Vern Law was hitting .183. Law’s hits included 4 doubles and 2 triples.

By Bobster

July 31, 1960---The last-place Cubs took the series from the first-place Pirates (57-39) with a 6-2 win at Wrigley Field. The Cubs took a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning with singles by Bob Will and Richie Ashburn and a 2-run double by George Altman against Harvey Haddix.

By Bobster

July 30, 1960---The last place Cubs (34-60) ended their 8-game losing streak and the Pirates’ 4-game winning streak with a 6-1 home victory over the Bucs (57-38). The Bucs struck quickly. Virdon led off the game with a single and was forced at second by Skinner. Nelson singled Skinner to third, and Clemente connected for an RBI-single to give Bob Friend a quick 1-0 lead.

By Bobster

July 29, 1960---The Pirates (57-37) shut out the slumping Cubs 4-0 at Wrigley Field to take a 3-game lead over Milwaukee. The Cubs (33-60) had now lost 14 of 17 games since the All-Star break. Vinegar Bend Mizell retired the first 17 Cubs he faced before Cubs pitcher Jim Brewer broke up the perfect game with a single in the 6th inning. Richie Ashburn followed Brewer’s single by drawing a walk, but both runners were stranded. Ashburn also singled and was thrown out by Clemente attempting to stretch the hit into a double in the 9th.

By Bobster

July 28, 1960---The Pirates were off as they traveled to Chicago for 3 games. However, the Braves lost a 3-2 game to SF to increase the Pirates’ lead to 2 full games. The match-ups for the Cub series would feature Mizell (5-2) vs Jim Brewer (0-2), Friend (11-6) vs Glen Hobbie (9-13) and Haddix (6-6) vs Don Cardwell (4-10).

By Bobster

July 27, 1960---The Pirates (56-37) completed a 3-game sweep of St.L. while the Braves were losing to the Giants, to open up a 1˝ game lead. George Witt, battling arm problems the past 2 years, started the game for Pittsburgh against the Cardinals’ Ray Sadecki. Witt struggled in the first inning but was bailed out by catcher Hal Smith. Julian Javier opened the game with a single. Witt struck out the next batter,

July 26, 1960---Vern Law (13-5) recorded his 10th consecutive victory over the Cardinals in the past 3 years as the Pirates won 5-4. The Bucs (55-37) scored 3 times in the 4th against St.L. starter Curt Simmons (2-1). Stuart opened the inning with a single. He was forced at second by Cimoli. After Burgess flied out, Hoak doubled to score Cimoli and took third as the throw to home was off target. Mazeroski was given an intentional walk. He stole second, and Hoak scored when catcher Carl Sawatski’s throw to second was errant.

By Bobster

July 25, 1960---The Pirates opened a three game series in St.Louis. The Bucs were in a virtual tie with the Braves for first place and 4 games ahead of the Cardinals, who came into the series at 49-41 and tied with the Dodgers for 3rd place. The series was a chance for the Cardinals to make headway in the pennant race. But the Pirates moved back into first place by themselves with a ˝ game lead over the Braves with a 4-2 win over the Cardinals while the Braves were idle.

By Bobster

July 24, 1960---A bad day for the Pirates (53-37) saw them fall into second place for the first time since May 30th, .002 percentage points behind the Milwaukee Braves (52-36). The Braves won a doubleheader against Chicago while the Pirates dropped a 6-3 contest to the Giants. Willie Mays connected for his 21st HR of the year with a man aboard in the 1st inning against starter Tom Cheney. The score remained 2-0 until the 6th inning with Billy O’Dell (5-8) shutting down the Pirates. In the 6th, Bob Schmidt who, like Mays, had homered the day before, connected again for a 3-run HR off Cheney after Felipe Alou’s hit had made it a 3-0 game.

By Bobster

July 23, 1960---San Francisco rookie Juan Marichal (2-0) earned his second ML victory in as many tries with a 4-hit, 3-1 win over the Pirates (53-36) and Harvey Haddix (6-6). Marichal went the distance, walking 4 and striking out 6. Bob Schmidt homered in the 3rd for SF to give them a 1-0 lead, and Willie Mays hit #20 in the 5th to put SF up 3-0.