The Pirates, who held a commemorative service for Roberto Clemente to mark their opening game, thrilled the crowd of 51,895 at Three Rivers Stadium by coming from behind to defeat the Cardinals, 7-5. The Cardinals took a 5-0 lead against Steve Blass before the Pirates picked up a run in the sixth inning and added another on a homer by Richie Hebner in the seventh.

With one out in the eighth, Manny Sanguillen and Al Oliver singled and Willie Stargell walked to load the bases, leading to the exit of Bob Gibson. Diego Segui, relieving, struck out Bob Robertson, but Hebner doubled to drive in two runs. Gene Clines, batting for Pirate reliever Jim Rooker, slashed a line drive to left-center field and the ball glanced off the fingertips of Lou Brock's glove for a triple, two runs scoring to put the Pirates ahead. Clines then counted the final tally when Dave Cash was safe on Ray Busse's second error of the game. [The Sporting News]

Pittsburgh Pirates 7, St. Louis Cardinals 5

Game Played on Friday, April 6, 1973 (Day game) at Three Rivers Stadium

Cardinals 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 5 7 2 Pirates 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 x - 7 8 0 Cardinals AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Pirates AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Brock lf 4 0 1 1 1 0 .250 Stennett 2b,ss 4 1 0 0 1 0 .000 Sizemore 2b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .250 Sanguillen rf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .500 J. Cruz cf 2 1 0 0 2 1 .000 Oliver cf 3 1 2 1 0 0 .667 Torre 1b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .333 Stargell lf 2 1 0 0 2 2 .000 Simmons c 3 1 0 1 1 1 .000 R. Hernandez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Reitz 3b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .250 Robertson 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Carbo rf 3 1 2 1 0 0 .667 Hebner 3b 4 2 3 3 0 0 .750 Melendez ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Alley ss 2 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Busse ss 4 1 1 0 0 0 .250 Rooker p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Gibson p 2 0 0 1 0 0 .000 Clines ph,lf 1 1 1 2 0 0 1.000 Segui p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 May c 3 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Stein ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Blass p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Davalillo ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Walker p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Cash ph,2b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Totals 30 5 7 5 5 3 Totals 31 7 8 6 5 5 Time of Game: 2:02 Attendance: 51,695 Left on Base: Cardinals 5, Pirates 6 DP: Cardinals 2, Pirates 0 Errors: Busse 2 Doubles: Busse (1), Hebner (1) Triples: Oliver (1), Clines (1) Home Runs: Hebner (1) Caught Stealing: Brock (1) Sacrifice Flies: Gibson (1), Oliver (1) GIDP: Sanguillen (1), Robertson (1) Hit by Pitch: Torre (1,by Blass) Cardinals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Gibson 7.1 6 5 4 4 4 1 31 4.91 Segui L(0-1) 0.2 2 2 1 1 1 0 6 13.50 Totals 8 8 7 5 5 5 1 37 Pirates IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Blass 5 5 5 5 4 1 0 22 9.00 Walker 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0.00 Rooker W(1-0) 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 4 0.00 R. Hernandez SV(1) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0.00 Totals 9 7 5 5 5 3 0 37 Passed Balls: Simmons (1) Hit by Pitch: Blass (1) Wild Pitches: Blass (1) Umpires: HP - Ed Vargo, 1B - Paul Pryor, 2B - Bruce Froemming, 3B - Terry Tata CARDINALS 1ST: Debut for umpire Terry Tata; Brock walked; Brock was caught stealing second (catcher to second); Sizemore flied out to center; J. Cruz walked; Torre struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 0, Pirates 0. PIRATES 1ST: Stennett reached on an error by Busse [Stennett to first]; Sanguillen grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Stennett out at second]; Oliver grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 0, Pirates 0. CARDINALS 2ND: Simmons walked; Reitz singled to left [Simmons to third, Reitz out at second (left to pitcher to second)]; Carbo singled to left [Simmons scored]; Busse doubled to right [Carbo to third]; Gibson hit a sacrifice fly to right [Carbo scored]; Blass threw a wild pitch [Busse to third]; Brock singled to left [Busse scored]; Brock was picked off first (pitcher to first); 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 3, Pirates 0. PIRATES 2ND: Stargell walked; Robertson grounded into a double play (pitcher to shortstop to first) [Stargell out at second]; Hebner flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 3, Pirates 0. CARDINALS 3RD: Sizemore singled to left; J. Cruz walked [Sizemore to second]; Torre was hit by a pitch [Sizemore to third, J. Cruz to second]; Simmons grounded out (first to pitcher) [Sizemore scored, J. Cruz to third, Torre to second]; Reitz grounded out (shortstop to first) [J. Cruz scored, Torre to third]; Carbo grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 0. PIRATES 3RD: Alley grounded out (shortstop to first); May grounded out (second to first); Blass grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 0. CARDINALS 4TH: Busse grounded out (shortstop to first); Gibson lined to shortstop; Brock flied to left in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 0. PIRATES 4TH: Stennett grounded out (second to first); Sanguillen grounded out (second to first); Oliver tripled to right; Stargell struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 0. CARDINALS 5TH: Sizemore grounded out (second to first); J. Cruz popped to shortstop; Torre lined to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 0. PIRATES 5TH: Robertson popped to second; Hebner singled to right; Alley walked [Hebner to second]; May flied out to right; DAVALILLO BATTED FOR BLASS; Davalillo popped to first; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 0. CARDINALS 6TH: WALKER REPLACED DAVALILLO (PITCHING); Simmons grounded out (third to first); Reitz grounded out (pitcher to first); Carbo singled to pitcher; Busse grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 0. PIRATES 6TH: Stennett walked; Simmons allowed a passed ball [Stennett to second]; Sanguillen singled to right [Stennett to third]; Oliver hit a sacrifice fly to center [Stennett scored (unearned)]; Stargell struck out; Robertson flied out to left; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 1. CARDINALS 7TH: Gibson flied out to right; Brock grounded out (pitcher to first); Sizemore grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 1. PIRATES 7TH: Hebner homered; Alley was called out on strikes; May flied out to center; CASH BATTED FOR WALKER; Cash struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 2. CARDINALS 8TH: CASH STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); STENNETT CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING SS); ROOKER REPLACED ALLEY (PITCHING); J. Cruz was called out on strikes; Torre singled to right; Simmons struck out; Reitz grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 2. PIRATES 8TH: Stennett flied out to right; Sanguillen singled to center; Oliver singled to left [Sanguillen to third]; Stargell walked [Oliver to second]; SEGUI REPLACED GIBSON (PITCHING); Robertson struck out; Hebner doubled to left [Sanguillen scored, Oliver scored, Stargell to third]; CLINES BATTED FOR ROOKER; Clines tripled to left [Stargell scored, Hebner scored]; May was walked intentionally; Cash reached on an error by Busse [Clines scored (unearned) (no RBI), May to second, Cash to first]; Stennett forced Cash (third to second); 5 R (4 ER), 4 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 7. CARDINALS 9TH: R. HERNANDEZ REPLACED STARGELL (PITCHING); CLINES STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); MELENDEZ BATTED FOR CARBO; Melendez walked; Busse flied out to center; STEIN BATTED FOR SEGUI; Stein flied out to right; Brock flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 5, Pirates 7.

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