September 7, 1987: Jeff Robinson records immaculate inning, saves Pirates’ comeback win over Cubs

Seemingly bound for their fourth consecutive last-place finish in the National League East Division, the Pittsburgh Pirates dealt several veterans for younger players in July and August 1987. A trade of All-Star starting pitcher Rick Reuschel to the San Francisco Giants netted workhorse reliever Jeff Robinson. In one of his first appearances as a Pirate, Robinson struck out the side on nine pitches, highlighting his two-inning save of Pittsburgh’s come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on September 7 at Wrigley Field.

Under general manager Syd Thrift and manager Jim Leyland, both in their second seasons in Pittsburgh, the ’87 Pirates fell into last place on June 29 and continued to lose ground as summer continued. On July 31, with sixth-place Pittsburgh 16½ games behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals and seven back of the fifth-place Cubs, Thrift traded 30-year-old reliever Don Robinson, the last remaining member of Pittsburgh’s 1979 World Series championship team, to San Francisco.1 Third baseman Jim Morrison, 34, went to the Detroit Tigers on August 7.2

Next on the trading block was one of the game’s top starters: the 38-year-old Reuschel, whose 2.75 ERA trailed only Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL lead. The Giants were in a tight NL West Division race with the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros. On August 21, Giants General Manager Al Rosen sent Jeff Robinson and minor-league pitcher Scott Medvin to Pittsburgh for Reuschel.3

Robinson had reached the majors in 1984 as a starter but moved to the bullpen by 1986. One of several members of San Francisco’s staff throwing a split-fingered fastball under manager Roger Craig’s tutelage,4 he had a team-best 63 appearances and 2.79 ERA at the time of the trade.

“Robinson is definitely the most different among the Giants pitchers,” observed a newspaper profile of the pitcher his teammates called “Max Headroom” and “The Fabulous Hoon.” “His short blond hair is spiked. He tends to wander around the clubhouse in his own zone, his earphones hugging his head.”5

The 26-year-old Robinson went from the top of the NL West to the bottom of the NL East, and Pittsburgh’s veteran exodus continued. Second baseman Johnny Ray, 30, went to the California Angels for two minor leaguers on August 29.6 Besides Robinson, the trades had brought 25-year-old outfielder Darnell Coles and 28-year-old relief pitcher Jim Gott to Pittsburgh,7 and 23-year-old second baseman José Lind had been promoted from Triple A.

“We’re not going to come out of last place slowly and quietly,” Thrift said after his transactional flurry. “We’re going to come out like one of those rockets at Cape Canaveral.”8

Robinson struggled to launch with the Pirates, giving up runs to the Atlanta Braves in back-to-back games. Soon afterward, Leyland and pitching coach Ray Miller gave him a season-long five-day break between outings.9 Still in last place, 6½ games back of the Cubs,10 the Pirates were on a modest 9-wins-in-12-games upswing when they arrived in Chicago on Labor Day for the opener of a three-game series.

The Pirates had beaten second-year Cubs starter Jamie Moyer twice at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium,11 but at Wrigley Field the 24-year-old left-hander demonstrated the command that yielded a home-park complete-game win on June 22.12 After a 22-minute rain delay,13 Moyer struck out four of his first five batters – catching Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Mike Diaz looking at fastballs14 – and kept the Pirates hitless through three innings.

Pittsburgh righty Brian Fisher had shut out the Cubs twice in two previous 1987 starts, including a six-hitter when matched up against Moyer on August 5.15 The 25-year-old Fisher ran his string of Chicago zeroes to 20 through the first two innings, allowing the first three Cubs to reach base in the first but getting bailed out when right fielder Coles threw out leadoff hitter Dave Martínez trying to stretch a single into a double.

Fisher picked up two more outs to begin the third. But Leon Durham drove a high 2-and-2 slider deep to the opposite field, striking a fence behind the left-field bleachers.16 The Cubs’ first baseman, who had bombed the Reds for two home runs a day earlier, gave Chicago a 1-0 lead with his career-high 25th homer of the season.

The Pirates recorded their first hit when Lind opened the fourth with a single between third baseman Keith Moreland and shortstop Shawon Dunston.17 Bonilla narrowly missed a home run with a high foul to left,18 then swung through Moyer’s full-count changeup with Lind breaking for second. Cubs catcher Jim Sundberg gunned down Lind with a throw to second baseman Ryne Sandberg, and the Pirates went scoreless.19

An inning later, however, Pittsburgh’s power knotted the score. game. Terry Harper, the left fielder in a righty-heavy lineup, led off the fifth. Starting for only the 11th time since the Pirates obtained him in a late-June trade with the Tigers, Harper drove a hanging changeup over the left-field bleachers and onto Waveland Avenue.20 Harper’s first homer with Pittsburgh made it a 1-1 game.21

The tie held until the bottom of the sixth. Fisher retired the first two Cub batters on first-pitch swings. Moreland – whose two-run, bottom-of-the-ninth homer off Reuschel had given Moyer and the Cubs a win over the Pirates in the June 22 game – seemed off balance, falling behind 1-and-2, but he drove a high fastball into the net above the left-field ivy.22 Moreland’s 24th homer of the season, eight more than his previous career high, gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead.

The Pirates threatened to overturn the Cubs’ new-found advantage in the seventh. Diaz tapped a changeup toward third and beat Moreland’s throw for a one-out infield single.23 Leyland sent in U L Washington to pinch-run. Harper scalded a line drive to center; Martínez took two steps in, realized he had misjudged the ball, and leaped desperately as Harper’s hit sailed over his head. Washington stopped at third on the double.24

But Moyer stiffened. The runners held on Coles’ soft grounder to Dunston at short,25 and Dunston ranged up the middle to grab catcher Junior Ortiz’s bouncer and record the final out at first, as Ortiz tripped and fell while running down the baseline.26

Moyer set down the first two Pirates in the eighth. John Cangelosi, batting for Fisher, flied to the warning track in left for the second out.27 On a 2-and-2 count, Bonds, who had argued with home plate umpire Dave Pallone after getting called out on strikes in the first inning, took ball three low and inside – a pitch the Pittsburgh Press described as “too close to take against … Pallone.”28

Moyer leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees in disappointment.29

Bonds then lined a single to right. Lind bunted Moyer’s next offering down the third-base line. The ball stayed in the grass, and Moreland had no play.30

Two Pirates were on base for Bonilla, who had struck out twice. This time, he ripped a drive high off the exit gate in left-center. Bonds scored, and Lind slid home as Sundberg dropped Dunston’s relay throw.31 The Pirates had a 3-2 lead.

Leyland turned the game over to Robinson, whose five appearances for Pittsburgh had yielded a 10.38 ERA. Due up for the Cubs in the eighth were Durham, with three homers in two days; Andre Dawson, leading the NL with 43 home runs and 117 RBIs; and Rafael Palmeiro, a promising 22-year-old with a .510 slugging percentage.

Durham took a slider for a strike, then swung and missed at two split-fingered fastballs.32

Dawson fouled off the first pitch, took a slider in the strike zone, and swung over a split-finger.33

Palmeiro took a strike, then missed two splitters.34

On nine pitches, Robinson had struck out the side. It was the first time in nearly eight years that an NL pitcher achieved what later became known as an “Immaculate Inning.”35 

Robinson continued his strike-zone assault in the ninth, needing just three pitches to get the first two outs, but Jerry Mumphrey’s pinch-hit single put the tying run on base. Pinch-runner Chico Walker, 11-for-13 in steals, broke for second on the 2-and-1 pitch to pinch-hitter Manny Trillo. Ortiz’s throw to second beat Walker to the bag, and Lind’s tag ended the game.36

Robinson had his 11th save and plenty of praise for his dazzling eighth inning.37

“That,” Gott said to Thrift in the Pirates’ clubhouse, “was the guy you traded for.”38

Two days later, on September 9, Robinson – without an extra-base hit in 94 at-bats to that point in his career – capped the Pirates’ series sweep with a tie-breaking ninth-inning homer against Hall of Fame-bound closer Lee Smith.39

The Pirates won 27 of their final 38 games and finished 80-82 and in a fourth-place tie with the Philadelphia Phillies. Robinson allowed just four runs in his final 16 appearances with Pittsburgh, setting his final ERA at 2.85. His 81 appearances were fourth among NL pitchers.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Thomas J. Brown Jr. and copy-edited by Keith Thursby.

Photo credit: Jeff Robinson, Trading Card Database.

Sources 

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play. He also reviewed a recording of the WGN-TV broadcast of the game, posted on YouTube by the Phenia Films account.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN198709070.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1987/B09070CHN1987.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkiGwyRDlHE

Notes

1 Bob Hertzel, “’There’s Nobody Left’: Robinson Traded to Giants,” Pittsburgh Press, August 1, 1987: C4

2 Paul Meyer, “Pirates Grant Morrison’s Wish, Make Deal for Detroit’s Coles,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 8, 1987: 23.

3 Ray Ratto, “Giants Get Reuschel for Pennant Chase,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 22, 1987: 41. Reuschel had cleared waivers to be traded after the July 31 trading deadline. John Adams, “Baseball’s Waiver Rule a Washout,” Knoxville News-Sentinel, August 22, 1987: B1. San Francisco went on to win the NL West Division title before losing the NL Championship Series to the St. Louis Cardinals; Reuschel went 5-3 with a 4.32 ERA in nine regular-season appearances with the Giants, then had a 0-1 record and 6.30 ERA in two NLCS starts.

4 Dave Anderson, “Split-Finger Giants with SF Caps,” New York Times, March 17, 1987: 103.

5 Max Headroom was a fictional television character who had debuted in 1985. Giants players indicated they called Robinson “Hoon” as a derivative of “Junior.” George Shirk, “His Role to Play: Ideal Set-Up Man,” San Jose Mercury News, April 17, 1987: 7D.

6 Bob Hertzel, “Thrift Shop Ships Ray to Angels,” Pittsburgh Press, August 30, 1987: D1.

7 Thrift and Rosen had agreed to a deal sending Gott and catcher Mackey Sasser to Pittsburgh for Don Robinson. Because Gott had not been offered on waivers, the deal was announced on July 31 as Sasser and $50,000.00 to the Pirates for Robinson. Three days later, the Pirates claimed Gott off waivers and returned the $50,000.00 to the Giants. Bob Hertzel, “Gott Bids Giants Good Riddance,” Pittsburgh Press, August 4, 1987: C3.

8 Paul Meyer, “The Bucs Stop Here: Thrift Likes His Team,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 7, 1987: 12.

9 Bob Hertzel, “Right Mood Strikes Robinson,” Pittsburgh Press, September 8, 1987: C6.

10 They trailed first-place St. Louis by 19½ games.

11 Bob Hertzel, “From the Heart: Reuschel, Ortiz Beat Cubs, 7-0,” Pittsburgh Press, June 28, 1987: D1; Fred Mitchell, “Pirates, Michael Rip Cubs,” Chicago Tribune, August 6: 1987: 4,1.

12 Fred Mitchell, “It’s Miss And Hit in 9th for Moreland,” Chicago Tribune, June 23, 1987: 4,1.

13 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast,” YouTube video (Phenia Films), 3:28:38, accessed September 1, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkiGwyRDlHE (14:33 of broadcast).

14 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (15:05, 17:58, and 32:05 of broadcast).

15 Bob Hertzel, “Pirates Pitchers Flex New Muscle: Fisher Win Adds to Run of Success,” Pittsburgh Press, August 6, 1987: C4.

16 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (57:25 of broadcast).

17 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (1:01:57 of broadcast).

18 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (1:05:14 of broadcast).

19 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (1:06:13 of broadcast).

20 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (1:14:10 of broadcast).

21 It was the 36th and final home run of Harper’s eight-season major-league career. He spent 1988, his last season in professional baseball, with the Yakult Swallows of the Japanese Professional League.

22 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (1:32:22 of broadcast).

23 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (1:43:38 of broadcast).

24 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (1:45:02 of broadcast).

25 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (1:47:47 of broadcast).

26 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (1:49:19 of broadcast).

27 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (1:59:35 of broadcast).

28 Hertzel, “Right Mood Strikes Robinson.”

29 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (2:01:42 of broadcast).

30 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (2:02:41 of broadcast).

31 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (2:04:00 of broadcast).

32 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (2:08:51 of broadcast).

33 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (2:09:56 of broadcast).

34 “Pittsburgh PIRATES at Chicago CUBS 9/7/87 Original WGN Broadcast” (2:11:06 of broadcast).

35 Game coverage asserted that the most recent NL “Immaculate Inning” had been accomplished by the Cubs’ Bruce Sutter in 1977. As of 2025, a 3-strikeouts-on-9-pitches inning by Joey McLaughlin of the Atlanta Braves in September 1979 is regarded as the last in the NL before Robinson. Ed Eagle, “Immaculate Innings: 3 Strikeouts on 9 Pitches,” MLB.com, September 3, 2025, https://www.mlb.com/news/immaculate-innings-c265720420; Paul Meyer, “Robinson Strikes Way to Record,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 8, 1987: 26.

36 Cubs manager Gene Michael announced after the game that he was resigning, effective after the season. General manager Dallas Green accepted the resignation and appointed coach Frank Lucchesi as interim manager for the rest of the season. Fred Mitchell, “Cubs Manage to Lose Yet Again to Pirates,” Chicago Tribune, September 9, 1987: 4,1.

37 Fisher improved to 8-9 with the win. Moyer fell to 11-12.

38 Hertzel, “Right Mood Strikes Robinson.”

39 Bob Hertzel, “Robinson a Big Hit on New Pirates,” Pittsburgh Press, September 10, 1987: C1.