Don Robinson threw shutout ball for eight innings and Dave Parker had three extra-base hits as the Pirates hammered Chicago, 8-0, at Three Rivers Stadium. The win was their third straight and brought them back to .500 at 21-21.
Robinson was sharp from the start, retiring the first nine batters he faced. The Cubs started the fourth with a pair of singles, but Robinson made quick work of the middle of their order — Bill Buckner, Dave Kingman and Bobby Murcer — with a popup, strikeout and fly out. The Cubs’ only other threat against Robinson came in the seventh, when they got a pair of two-out singles. Robinson ended that threat by fanning pinch hitter Larry Biittner.
The Pirates meanwhile got all they needed in the first. Dave Parker followed a Tim Foli single with a double, and Foli scored on an error by pitcher Ken Holtzman. The Cubs walked Bill Robinson so the lefty Holtzman could pitch to Willie Stargell, but Pops didn’t follow the script, driving the Cobra in with a single to right. Phil Garner extended the lead to 3-0 by leading off the second with his third home run on the year.
There was no more scoring until the seventh. With Holtzman still on, Parker blasted his seventh homer to make it 4-0. The next inning, the Pirates turned the game into a rout with four runs. With second and third, and two out, Omar Moreno singled to bring in two. Foli singled and Parker doubled to drive in both, giving him three hits and three RBIs.
Don Robinson stayed on until the ninth, when he walked the leadoff hitter. Chuck Tanner brought in Grant Jackson for the fifth straight day and Jackson walked the first batter he faced. That was all, though, as a popup and two grounders finished it out.
The Pirates had 15 hits in the game. Don Robinson had two of those, while allowing only five singles and two walks in his eight-plus innings. He fanned six and improved his record to 4-3.
