PHILADELPHIA -- Fire everyone.
Because the Pirates' 12-3 loss to the Phillies on this Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park marked the 24th time this season their pitching staff's given up double-digit runs.
Because only one team, the pathetic Orioles, has done that more often, at 25.
Because 24 is pretty pathetic itself.
Because that's once every 5.5 games.
Because they haven't gone more than 10 games without giving up 10-plus runs, maxing out twice, April 10-21 and June 11-22.
Because nearly half -- 44 percent — of all 77 losses have come by five or more runs
Because a minus-118 run differential doesn't lie, and that's been driven home devastatingly by this real-deal 12-32 nosedive since the All-Star break.
Because injuries, even the one to Jameson Taillon, don't excuse for a split-second the sorry state of a minor-league system so depleted of pitching that Mitch Keller -- the starter on this night who was rocked for eight runs and 11 hits over four-plus innings -- isn't just the top pitching prospect. He's the only pitching prospect.
Because that system's depletion resulted in the promotion of Yefry Ramirez, who was cut earlier this summer by the pathetic Orioles. And all he did here was cough up four more runs, six hits, couple walks ... whatever. The summer of I-70 roadkill from Indianapolis rolls on.
Because the team's 5.08 ERA is second-highest in the National League, better only than the Rockies, who are forced to pitch in a moon-like atmosphere.
Because the Phillies' home runs by Corey Dickerson and J.T. Realmuto represented the 62nd time the Pirates allowed multiple home runs in a game, trailing only the Rockies, who are forced to pitch in a moon-like atmosphere.
Because this was the 19th time the Pirates allowed 20-plus baserunners, tied for most in Major League Baseball with the pathetic Orioles and the Rockies, who are forced to pitch in a moon-like atmosphere.
Because it hasn't even helped having a brilliant closer and, thus, needing only to cover eight innings to win.
Because this is the worst pitching by the Pittsburgh Baseball Club I've witnessed in my lifetime.
Because this should be embarrassing to those responsible but it isn't, since they've buried their heads so deep in self-propagated analytical outcomes to boost their fragile egos that they can no longer come up for real air.
Because the root reason for it is that there aren't anywhere near enough smart baseball people in the front office to either recognize or nurture talent of any kind, but particularly pitching.
Because if these guys were given 10,000 simulated draft picks, they'd produce ... maybe eight actual players.
Because, after a dozen years of drafting and outspending everyone in that process, the only first-round pick on the 25-man roster is the rookie shortstop, while the player who's still the most talented was signed under Dave Littlefield, the previous general manager.
Because the current GM came out here for a couple days, then bolted anew.
Because there's undoubtedly more important affairs in his world right now.
Because this isn't normal. It shouldn't be normal. Not in Baltimore. Not in Pittsburgh. Not anywhere.
Because this shouldn't be accepted without accountability.
Because it just might be.
Because if it is, it'll be exposed all over again that this isn't a serious sports franchise but, rather, a multimillion-dollar business masquerading as such.
Because I'm tired of being repetitive, I'm tired of trying to find actual baseball stories amid this incessant slop, and I'm done and I'm going home. Game stuff is below, for anyone still interested.
• Keller struck out eight, walked one and threw 16 first-pitch strikes to his 24 batters, which was odd weighed against the rest of his line. So his stuff had to have been there, even if the command often eluded him.
He didn't see it that way, though, when I brought it up.
"I'd say it was just execution more than anything," he said, looking and sounding plenty dispirited, I might add.
To wit, this was his explanation of the Dickerson home run:
Yikes. Maybe that's just his vibe after losing, but we'll see.
Hurdle explained Keller's struggles thusly: "A lot of fastball mistakes were up, covered and hit hard. I think he lost the slider a little along the way. The curveball wasn't there. The mix ... just wasn't sharp."
• Josh Bell popped his 34th home run, the seventh in his past 17 games, off a first-pitch fastball from Philadelphia starter Vince Velasquez, to pull the Pirates within 3-2 in the fourth:
I don't care how juiced the ball might be, he's headed hard toward 40-plus home runs -- needs six more in the final 29 games -- and that'll be rare air in franchise history: It's been achieved only seven times, and by only two men -- Willie Stargell and Ralph Kiner -- and not at all since Pops' 44 in 1973.
• Starling Marte mashed one, too, his 23rd ...
... and it ... well, it just kind of disappeared. It was hit so hard and so far that, one, Dickerson never budged in left and, two, it sailed through a gap in the outfield second decks, leaving the ball nowhere visible to land.
He's having a wonderful season. Really is.
With those 23 home runs and 24 steals, he's one of five players in the majors with 20-20 to date, along with Ronald Acuna Jr., Christian Yelich, Jonathan Villar and Jose Ramirez. The only others in franchise history to have done it are Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke, Dave Parker and Andrew McCutchen.
• Bryan Reynolds Watch: With an 0-for-3, he finished the night at .330, falling into a second-place tie in the National League. The Mets’ Jeff McNeil went 3 for 5 and now sits at .333, and Yelich went 1 for 3 with a walk to stay at .330.
• This was the second time in the series, by the way, that Hurdle replaced Reynolds with Pablo Reyes on a double-switch when the starter was pulled, this time in the Philadelphia fifth with the Pirates down, 7-2, and needing runs.
Hurdle's explanation on these is always the same: He looks at the lineup card, he lifts the last guy who batted. He once did it with Cutch in 2016.
This explanation was no different: "At that time, it was to get Yefry the most time he could to finish the game out."
I'll elaborate on his behalf, based on precedent: What he hopes to avoid is, if the Pirates get within striking distance offensively in the next inning or two, pinch-hitting for a pitcher he could really use for some length.
I know, I know. But ...
• Hurdle acknowledged that he stuck with Ramirez because he again was operating with a "three-man bullpen, plus him," and he didn't want to overtax the rest heading into Denver. Because that, too, is now normal.
• All of them. Every. Last. One.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE INJURIES
• Chris Archer (10-day IL, shoulder)
• Clay Holmes (10-day IL, quadriceps)
• Gregory Polanco (10-day IL, shoulder)
• Lonnie Chisenhall (60-day IL, Xbox overdose)
Here's the most recent full report, all new Wednesday from Todd Tomczyk, the Pirates' director of sports medicine.
THE SCHEDULE
Trevor Williams hasn't had much go right since May, but he did pitch six scoreless innings Saturday against the Reds back home, so there's a visible bounce back in his step. Big difference between that, though, and managing Coors Field, where this trip turns Thursday and where the Rockies are ... oh, you know. The home team will start righty Chi Chi Gonzalez. First pitch is 8:40 p.m. Eastern time.
THE COVERAGE
I'm done with road baseball for the year. Hunter Homistek will pick up the rest of this trip in Denver. All our baseball content, including Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, Indy Watch by Matt Welch, and Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, can be found on our Pirates page.