Which Teams Have the Pittsburgh Pirates Performed Best Against?

The Philadelphia Phillies

Now, to move on to the team against which the Pittsburgh Pirates have the highest winning percentage. The arbitrary criteria I have decided to implement is that the two teams must have met at least 500 times in history. The opponent that fits that mold? The Pirates’ in-state adversary, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Over 2,297 meetings, the Pirates hold a 1,129-1,069 edge over Philadelphia, which works out to a .533 winning percentage.

Of late, the Pirates success against the Phillies has been a mixed bag. A season ago, they dropped the season series 2-4. The last time the Bucs commanded a winning record over the Phils was 2017, when the team went 5-2. In the 2010s, the Pirates have maintained a 7-3 edge by season.

The Pirates have two winning streaks against the Phillies that reached 14 consecutive wins. The first was between September 27, 1921, to August 10, 1922. The second came between August 6, 1990, to August 14, 1991. Both of those two latter seasons saw the Pirates lose in the NLCS, first to the Reds in ’90, the eventual World Series Champions, and then to the Braves in ’91.

Both teams managed to max out their runs scored totals in a single game at 23, the Pirates doing it first on July 18, 1895, then the Phillies following suit almost exactly five years later on July 13, 1900. I was unable to find any box score data on that 1895 match up.

The longest game between the two clubs came on June 9, 1949, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, in front of 4,095 onlookers. The game lasted the total of two games going 18 innings in three hours and 45 minutes, and eventually saw the Phillies take the win.

Ray Poat took the hill for Pittsburgh, while Russ Meyer pitched for Philadelphia. Poat pitched six innings and gave up three runs, but reliever Murry Dickson ended up taking the loss after allowing one run over 11.2 innings of work. Schoolboy Rowe blew the save for the Phillies and Jim Konstanty pitched nine scoreless innings to round out the Phillies pitching situation.

Pirates’ right fielder Johnny Hopp had the best offensive outing for Pittsburgh, going 4-for-8 with three doubles and two RBIs.

That was a year in which the Pirates went 71-83 under manager Billy Meyer, finishing sixth in the National League. The Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers four games to one to take the World Series crown.