The1971 National League Championship Series was a best-of-five series inMajor League Baseball’s1971 postseason that pitted the East Division championPittsburgh Pirates against the West Division championSan Francisco Giants. The Pirates won the Series three games to one and won the1971 World Series against theBaltimore Orioles. The Giants did not return to the postseason until1987.

This was the thirdNational League Championship Series in all. It was the firstLeague Championship Series in either league that was not a sweep for the winning team (Baltimore sweptOakland in the1971 ALCS).

Pittsburgh won the series, 3–1.

With acesGaylord Perry andSteve Blass taking the mound for their respective teams, Game 1 looked to be a pitchers' duel. But the offenses were effective. The Pirates struck for two in the top of the third whenDave Cash doubled homeJackie Hernández. Cash scored the second run whenRichie Hebner grounded toTito Fuentes at second, butWillie McCovey dropped Fuentes' throw when he attempted to field the ball after having to scramble back to first because Perry didn't cover the bag. The Giants halved the lead in their half of the third whenChris Speier singled, went to second on a Perry sacrifice bunt, and scored on aKen 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 acomplete game win.

In front of an NBC-TV audience, Pirate first basemanBob 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 whenTito Fuentes singled offDock Ellis and scored on a double byWillie Mays. After the Pirates tied the game in the second offJohn Cumberland when Robertson hit a leadoff double and scored onManny Sanguillén's single, the Giants retook the lead in the bottom half whenChris Speier hit a leadoff double and scored onKen Henderson's single. Robertson's first home run of the game tied the score again in the fourth. Sanguillén's single then knocked Cumberland out of the game. After a stolen base,Jackie Hernández's RBI single offJim 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 fielderRoberto Clemente.^[5][6] After a leadoff double and single, Clemente's RBI single offDon Carrithers made it 5–2 Pirates. One out later, Robertsons' three-run home run offRon Bryant extended their lead to 8–2. Robertson's third home run in the ninth off ofSteve Hamilton made it 9–2. A two-run home run from Mays offBob Miller in the bottom half made it 9–4, butDave Giusti in relief retired all three batters he faced as the Pirates tied the series heading to Pittsburgh.

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

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.Manny Sanguillen singled and1960 World Series heroBill Mazeroski, hitting for Blass, also singled.Richie Hebner then tied the game with a three-run home run. The score stayed at 5–5 until the sixth whenDave Cash singled, moved to second on a groundout, and scored on aRoberto Clemente RBI single.Jerry Johnson relieved Perry and after intentionally walkingWillie Stargell,Al Oliver's three-run home run made it 9–5 Pirates. Meanwhile,Bruce Kison andDave Giusti pitched the last seven innings of shutout baseball to close out the series and win the pennant for the first time in 11 years.

1971 NLCS(3–1):Pittsburgh Pirates overSan Francisco Giants

• 1971 NLCS at Baseball-Reference.com

• National League Championship Series
• 1971 Major League Baseball season
• San Francisco Giants postseason
• Pittsburgh Pirates postseason
• 1971 in San Francisco
• 1971 in sports in Pennsylvania
• 1970s in Pittsburgh
• October 1971 sports events in the United States
• 1971 in sports in California
• Baseball competitions in Pittsburgh
• Baseball competitions in San Francisco

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from November 2013
• Short description is different from Wikidata