Mike Easler put the Pirates on the board in the bottom of the second inning with a two run homer with Dave Parker on base. The Cubs answer in the top of the third on a RBI single by Ryne Sandberg, scoring Filer. In the top of the fourth, Chicago tied the game on a RBI single by Larry Bowa, scoring Leon Durham. The Cubs took the lead in the top of the fifth inning when Durham hit in Bump Wills. After five, the Cubs led 3-2.
In the top of the sixth, Rod Scurry relieved Sarmiento with men on base and Chicago took advantage. Wills hit a single to left field, scoring Jody Davis. After getting Sandberg out, Scurry walked Bill Buckner, loading the bases. He faced Durham and on a full count, Scurry walked in Bowa. Enrique Romo relieved Scurry and got Steve Henderson out to close the inning.
However, Pittsburgh would not go quietly into the night. In the bottom of the sixth, Dale Berra hit a double to left field, scoring Tony Pena. Berra came through again in the bottom of the eighth, this time against reliever Willie Hernandez, hitting a single to left field, scoring Parker.
In the bottom of the ninth, all Chicago reliever Bill Campbell had to do was get out the side and the Cubs would win the game. He quickly got into trouble. By the time Parker came to bat, the Pirates had loaded the bases with one out. Parker hit the ball to first base and got out, but Johnny Ray scored, tying the game. Campbell got himself together and got Pena to hit a grounder for the third out. The game would go to extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, Pirates reliever Randy Niemann faced Junior Kennedy with one out and a man on base. Kennedy hit a left to center field and Bowa scored. Niemann recovered and finished the inning with a runner in scoring position. In the bottom of the tenth, Pittsburgh batters once again faced Campbell. However, Campbell had a better inning and got the Pirates to go three up and three down. The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5.
Although blowing a save opportunity, Campbell got his first win of the season, going to 1-3. Niemann got the loss, going to 0-1. Chicago improved to 26-44, 5th in the NL East. Pittsburgh fell to 30-44, 4th in the NL East. The Cubs trailed the NL East leading Montreal Expos by 14.5 games and the Pirates trailed the Expos by 7.5 games. Chicago ended the season at 73-89, 5th in the NL East and Pittsburgh finished the season at 84-78, 4th in the NL East.
Trivia
- There was only one Hall of Famer playing in this game: Ryne Sandberg of the Cubs.
- This was Lee Elia's first season managing the Cubs. He would be replaced in his second season by Charlie Fox, who himself was replaced by Jim Frey after the 1983 season. Elia also managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1987-88.
- This was Chuck Tanner's sixth season managing the Pirates. He managed the team from 1977-85, leading them to a World Series championship in 1979. He also managed the Chicago White Sox (1970-75), Oakland A's (1976), and the Atlanta Braves (1986-88).
- Elia played for both Chicago teams, the White Sox in 1966 and the Cubs in 1968.
- Tanner played for the Milwaukee Braves (1955-57), Chicago Cubs (1957-58), Cleveland Indians (1959-60), and Los Angeles Angels (1961-62).
- Dale Berra is the son of Yogi Berra.
- Tony Pena went on to manage the Kansas City Royals from 2002-05.
- Larry Bowa managed the San Diego Padres (1987-88) and the Philadelphia Phillies (2001-04).
- Although he is best known for letting an easy ground ball go between his legs in the 1986 World Series that could have prevented the Boston Red Sox from losing to the New York Mets, Bill Buckner actually had a 22 year career in the majors. He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1969-76), Chicago Cubs (1977-84), Boston Red Sox (1984-87, 1990), California Angels (1987-88), and Kansas City Royals (1988-89).
Game stats can be found at Baseball-Reference.com on the box score page at Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates - June 23, 1982.
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