By Bobster

August 17, 1960---A 5-3 victory over the Phillies gave the Pirates their 3rd straight win and closed out the home stand at 14-4. The Pirates (71-43) staked Harvey Haddix with a quick 1-0 lead when Bill Virdon opened the Pirate first inning with a double, went to third on Groat’s ground out and scored on Skinner’s ground out. After the Phillies tied it 1-1 in the fourth, the Bucs came right back with 3 runs against Philadelphia starter John Buzhardt (4-11) in the bottom of the inning. Groat, Nelson and Burgess singled to make it a 2-1 game, and Hoak’s double plated Nelson and Burgess to make it 4-1. But Haddix (8-7) ran into trouble in the sixth. Haddix left with one out, a run in and two men on base. He was relieved by Clem Labine, making his first appearance as a Pirate.

By Bobster

August 16, 1960---A crowd of 34,673 at Forbes Field watched the Pirates (70-43) win a doubleheader from the Phillies. The 2 wins gave the Pirates a 7½ game lead over both the second-place Milwaukee Braves and St.Louis Cardinals. In game 1, the Pirates responded to a run by the Phillies in the top of the first with 5 of their own in the bottom of the inning. Virdon opened the Pirate first inning with a walk but was caught stealing.

By Bobster

August 15, 1960---The Phillies (44-68) ended the Bucs’ 3-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory at Forbes Field. Art Mahaffey (1-0) earned his first ML win for the Phillies. He and Vinegar Bend Mizell were tied 0-0 after 3 innings. But Mizell walked Frank Herrera to lead off the 4th and Bobby Gene Smith followed that with a double. Jim Coker, the third batter of the inning, singled to give the Phils a 2-0 lead. But the Pirates came right back in their half of the inning when Smoky Burgess doubled and Don Hoak smacked his 10th HR to tie the game 2-2.

By Bobster

August 14, 1960---The Pirates (68-42) swept a Sunday doubleheader from the Cardinals (63-49) to take the 5-game series 3 games to 2 and increase their lead over the second place Cardinals to 6 games. In game 1, Vern Law gave up 4 runs and 12 hits, but benefited from a 9 run, 13 hit Pirate attack as he ran his record to 17-5 and got his 15th complete game and his sixth straight win. Law also joined teammate Bob Friend in going over the 200 inning mark for the season with still a month-and-a-half remaining.

By Bobster

August 13, 1960---Roberto Clemente and Dick Groat accounted for 7 of the Pirates’ 11 hits and Clemente drove in all the runs as the Bucs (66-42) snapped the Cardinals’ win streak at 6. The Cardinals’ loss put them 4 games behind Pittsburgh. The Cardinals (63-47) scored a run in the first on a double by Julian Javier and a single by Bob Nieman.

By Bobster

August 12, 1960---Roberto Clemente returned to the lineup, but the Pirates (65-42) lost again to the Cardinals (63-46). With 35,439 on hand, starter George Witt (1-1) didn’t make it through the first inning. Witt walked ex-Pirate farmhand Julian Javier and Daryl Spencer to start the game. He then retired Bill White before Ken Boyer launched his 25th HR of the season over the left field wall. That was all for Witt as Joe Gibbon took over. The Pirates got one back in the first when Dick Groat hit an opposite field inside-the-park HR to right, his first HR of the season.

By Bobster

August 11, 1960---The second-place Cardinals (62-46), 5 games behind the Pirates, came into Pittsburgh for a big 5 game series. The first game of the series saw the Cardinals run their winning streak to 5 games by snapping the Pirates streak at seven. The hard-fought contest was won by the Cards, 3-2 in 12 innings. Cardinals’ ace Ernie Broglio (14-5) and Bucs workhorse Bob Friend (12-9) both pitched the entire 12-inning game and each notched 9 strikeouts.

By Bobster

August 10, 1960---The Pirates (65-40) won their seventh straight game with a 3-1 win over the last-place Cubs. Vern Law improved his record to 16-5 by getting his first win of the season against Chicago. The Cubs had beaten Law twice earlier. The Bucs took a 1-0 lead in the first when Virdon doubled, advanced to third on Groat’s ground out and scored on a single by Skinner. The Cubs tied it 1-1 in the fourth when Richie Ashburn doubled, moved to third on Ernie Banks’ fly out and scored on a sac fly by George Altman. But the Pirates touched Cubs starter Don Cardwell (5-12) for two more runs in the sixth when Burgess singled, Hoak tripled and Mazeroski singled.

By Bobster

August 9, 1960---The first-place Pirates maintained their 5-game lead, and Vinegar Bend Mizell ran his personal scoreless innings streak to 30 before finally yielding a run as the Pirates won their 6th straight. But a run was all Mizell gave up as the Pirates (64-40) beat the Cubs 7-1 at Forbes Field. The Pirates gave Mizell plenty of support with 5 runs in the 3rd inning as they kayoed Cubs starter Moe Drabowsky (0-1), recently recalled from Houston of the minor leagues.

By Bobster

August 8, 1960---After a 4-game sweep of SF, the Pirates (63-40) had the day off in Pittsburgh while they awaited the Chicago Cubs. The Pirates’ 4-game sweep of the Giants left Mays & Co. just a game over .500 at 51-50 and 11 games out. It was the beginning of the end for the 1960 Giants, who had been picked by many to win the NL pennant. They would never again be closer than 11 games behind. It was now a four team race between the Pirates,