Richie Hebner's single capped a four-run ninth inning rally that enabled the Pirates to defeat the Mets, 4-3, in the Pirates' home opener before 43,880 fans. The rally began on successive singles by Richie Zisk, Dave Parker and Manny Sanguillen which knocked out starter Jerry Koosman and brought on rookie reliever Rick Baldwin.

Paul Popovich batted for Mario Mendoza with a 3-2 count and walked to load the bases. Ed Kirkpatrick flied out to short right but Rennie Stennett singled to tie the score. Lefthander Mac Scarce came on to face Hebner but the strategy failed when the Pirate third baseman blooped a single to left to drive in the winning run. The Mets had taken an early lead on homers by Dave Kingman and Del Unser and a double by Joe Torre. [The Sporting News]



Pittsburgh Pirates 4, New York Mets 3
Game Played on Friday, April     11, 1975 (Day game) at Three Rivers Stadium
Mets         0  0  0    1  1  0    0  1  0  -   3 10  1
Pirates      0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  4  -   4 12  0


Mets                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Clines lf             5   0   1   0     0   0   .083      Stennett 2b           5   0   1   2     0   0   .250
Millan 2b             4   0   1   0     0   0   .154      Hebner 3b             5   0   2   1     0   0   .444
Milner 1b             4   1   1   0     1   0   .091      Oliver cf             4   0   0   0     0   0   .222
Torre 3b              4   0   1   1     0   1   .154      Stargell 1b           4   0   0   0     0   1   .500
Kingman rf            3   1   2   1     1   1   .273      Zisk lf               3   1   3   0     1   0   .375
Grote c               3   0   0   0     1   1   .000      Parker rf             4   1   1   0     0   1   .250
Unser cf              4   1   2   1     0   1   .364      Sanguillen c          4   1   2   1     0   0   .375
Harrelson ss          3   0   1   0     1   0   .375      Taveras ss            2   0   0   0     0   0   .167
Koosman p             4   0   1   0     0   1   .250        Robertson ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Baldwin p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Mendoza ss          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Scarce p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Popovich ph         0   1   0   0     1   0   .000
                                                          Reuss p               2   0   2   0     0   0  1.000
                                                            Robinson ph         1   0   1   0     0   0   .500
                                                            Demery p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Kirkpatrick ph      1   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               34   3  10   3     4   5             Totals               36   4  12   4     2   2

Time of Game: 2:59   Attendance: 43,880
Left on Base: Mets 9, Pirates 9
DP: Mets 2, Pirates 2
Errors: Torre
Doubles: Torre (1), Millan (1)
Home Runs: Kingman (2), Unser (1)
Stolen Bases: Kingman (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Millan (1)
GIDP: Millan (1), Torre (1), Parker (1), Stennett (1)


Mets                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Koosman                 8    10   3   3   1   2   0  34   3.38
Baldwin L(0-1)          0.1   1   1   1   1   0   0   3   6.75
Scarce                  0     1   0   0   0   0   0   1   0.00
Totals                  8.1  12   4   4   2   2   0  38

Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Reuss                   7     8   2   2   4   3   1  31   2.57
Demery W(1-0)           2     2   1   1   0   2   1   8   3.00
Totals                  9    10   3   3   4   5   2  39

Balks: Koosman (1)

Umpires: HP - Paul Runge, 1B - Ed Vargo, 2B - Bruce Froemming, 3B - Art Williams


METS 1ST: Clines singled to center; Millan out on a sacrifice
bunt (pitcher to first) [Clines to second]; Milner flied to left
in foul territory; Torre struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets
0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 1ST: Stennett flied out to center; Hebner popped to
shortstop; Oliver grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Mets 0, Pirates 0.

METS 2ND: Kingman singled to left; Kingman stole second; Grote
struck out; Unser struck out; Harrelson popped to first; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 2ND: Stargell popped to shortstop; Zisk singled to
center; Parker struck out; Sanguillen reached on an error by
Torre [Zisk to second, Sanguillen to first]; Koosman balked
[Zisk to third, Sanguillen to second]; Taveras grounded out
(second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 0, Pirates 0.

METS 3RD: Koosman singled to left; Clines forced Koosman
(pitcher to second); Millan grounded into a double play (third
to second to first) [Clines out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Mets 0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 3RD: Reuss singled to left; Stennett flied out to
center; Hebner forced Reuss (first to shortstop); Oliver flied
out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Pirates 0.

METS 4TH: Milner grounded out (second to first); Torre grounded
out (pitcher to first); Kingman homered; Grote walked; Unser
singled to right [Grote to second]; Harrelson walked [Grote to
third, Unser to second]; Koosman grounded out (pitcher to
first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Mets 1, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 4TH: Stargell flied out to right; Zisk walked; Parker
forced Zisk (third to second); Sanguillen grounded out (second
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 1, Pirates 0.

METS 5TH: Clines flied out to right; Millan flied out to center;
Milner singled to right; Torre doubled to center [Milner
scored]; Kingman was walked intentionally; Grote grounded out
(third to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 5TH: Taveras flied out to right; Reuss singled to
center; Stennett flied out to right; Hebner singled to center
[Reuss to second]; Oliver flied out to left; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates 0.

METS 6TH: On a bunt Unser grounded out (second to first);
Harrelson grounded out (shortstop to first); Koosman grounded
out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates
0.

PIRATES 6TH: Stargell was called out on strikes; Zisk singled to
pitcher; Parker grounded into a double play (first to shortstop)
[Zisk out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates 0.

METS 7TH: Clines flied out to left; Millan doubled to left;
Milner walked; Torre grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [Milner out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Mets 2, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 7TH: Sanguillen singled to left; ROBERTSON BATTED FOR
TAVERAS; Robertson forced Sanguillen (third to second); ROBINSON
BATTED FOR REUSS; Robinson singled to left [Robertson to
second]; Stennett grounded into a double play (second to
shortstop to first) [Robinson out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates 0.

METS 8TH: MENDOZA REPLACED ROBERTSON (PLAYING SS); DEMERY
REPLACED ROBINSON (PITCHING); Kingman struck out; Grote grounded
out (shortstop to first); Unser homered; Harrelson singled to
right; Koosman was called out on strikes; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Mets 3, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 8TH: Hebner grounded out (first to pitcher); Oliver
grounded out (shortstop to first); Stargell grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 3, Pirates 0.

METS 9TH: Clines grounded out (second to first); Millan grounded
out (first unassisted); Milner lined to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Mets 3, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 9TH: Zisk singled to right; Parker singled to left [Zisk
to second]; Sanguillen singled to left [Zisk scored, Parker to
second]; POPOVICH BATTED FOR MENDOZA; BALDWIN REPLACED KOOSMAN
(PITCHING); Popovich walked [Parker to third, Sanguillen to
second]; KIRKPATRICK BATTED FOR DEMERY; Kirkpatrick flied out to
right; Stennett singled to center [Parker scored, Sanguillen
scored, Popovich to second]; SCARCE REPLACED BALDWIN (PITCHING);
Hebner singled to left [Popovich scored, Stennett to second]; 4
R, 5 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 3, Pirates 4.