1971 National League Championship Series

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. San Francisco Giants

Pittsburgh won the series, 3–1.

Game 1

With aces Gaylord Perry and Steve Blass taking the mound for their respective teams, Game 1 looked to be a pitchers duel. It somewhat was for four innings; the Pirates struck for two in the top of the third when Dave Cash doubled home Jackie Hernández. Cash scored the second run when Richie Hebner grounded to Tito Fuentes at second, but Willie McCovey, who attempted to field the ball and had to scramble back to first because Perry forgot to cover the bag, dropped Fuentes' throw. The Giants halved the lead in their half of the third when Chris Speier singled, went to second on a Perry sacrifice, and scored on a Ken Henderson single.

Fuentes and McCovey would redeem themselves in the fifth by each slamming two-run homers off Blass for a 5–2 lead. Al Oliver cut the deficit to 5–4 for the Pirates with two-run single in the seventh, but that was it as Perry went the distance for a complete game win.

Game 2

In front of an NBC-TV audience, Pirate first baseman Bob Robertson grew into a star in Game 2. Robertson smashed three homers, becoming the first to do so in a playoff game. The Giants struck first in the bottom of the first when Tito Fuentes singled off of Dock Ellis and scored on Willie Mays's double. After the Pirates tied the game in the second off of John Cumberland when Robertson hit a leadoff double and scored on Manny Sanguillen's single, the Giants retook the lead in the bottom half when Chris Speier hit a leadoff double and scored on Ken Henderson's single. Robertson's first home run of the game tied the score again in the fourth. Sanguillen's single then knocked Cumberland out of the game. After a stole base, Jackie Hernandez's RBI single off of Jim Barr put the Pirates up 3–2. Gene Clines's home run next inning extended their lead to 4–2. A pivotal play occurred just prior to the Pirates' 4-run seventh, when Mays, batting in the bottom of the sixth with two out and his team trailing, 4–2, saw his bid for a bases-clearing double grabbed by right fielder Roberto Clemente.^[5][6] After a leadoff double and single, Clemente's RBI single off of Don Carrithers made it 5–2 Pirates. One out later, Robertsons' three-run home run off of Ron Bryant extended their lead to 8–2. Robertson's third home run in the ninth off of Steve Hamilton made it 9–2. A two-run home run from Mays off of Bob Miller in the bottom half made it 9–4, but Dave Giusti in relief retired all three batters he faced as the Pirates tied the series heading to Pittsburgh.

Game 3

The Pirates' Bob Johnson and the Giants' Juan Marichal locked into a tight pitcher's duel for eight innings. Bob Robertson hit a homer, his then-record fourth of the series, in the second, and the Giants tied it in the sixth when Ken Henderson singled and scored when third baseman Richie Hebner threw wildly past Robertson at first after fielding a bunt by Tito Fuentes.

Hebner would atone for the error, however, by slamming a game-winning homer in the eighth off Marichal. Dave Giusti came on in the ninth and saved it for Johnson and the Pirates.

Game 4

Another anticipated pitching duel between Giants' Gaylord Perry and Pirates' Steve Blass quickly went by the wayside. Blass lasted only two innings, giving up five runs. Willie McCovey's RBI single with two on in the first gave the Giants a 1–0 lead, but they left the bases loaded. In the bottom half, after a leadoff single and double, Roberto Clemente's two-run single put the Pirates up 2–1, but in the second, Chris Speier's leadoff home run tied the game. After two singles and two outs, Willie McCovey's three-run home run put the Giants up 5–2, but the Pirates, however, got Blass off the hook in the bottom of the inning. Richie Hebner tied the game with a three-run home run, but not before 1960 World Series hero Bill Mazeroski provided a thrill by pinch-hitting for Blass and singling and later scoring on Hebner's home run.

The score stayed at 5–5 until the sixth when Dave Cash singled, moved to second on a groundout, and scored on a Roberto Clemente RBI single. Jerry Johnson relieved Perry and after intentionally walking Willie Stargell, Al Oliver's three-run home run made it 9–5 Pirates. Meanwhile, Bruce Kison and Dave Giusti pitched the last seven innings of shutout baseball to close out the series.