Pirates beginning to fade during pivotal stretch against contenders

When the Pirates finished off a 3-3 trip through Arizona and Houston late last month, there was a heightened sense of optimism after a series loss to the Diamondbacks was followed by an active buying spree at the trade deadline and two encouraging wins against a talented Astros squad.

Following the conclusion of that six-game road trip, Derek Shelton expressed the need to get better amidst a stretch in which the Pirates were sitting two games over .500 and 2.5 games behind the Diamondbacks for the final wild card spot in the National League. There was urgency to do just that with the deadline acquisitions of Bryan De La Cruz, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jalen Beeks, but the results haven't been favorable over the last week. 

The Pirates opened their current six-game homestand by once again losing two of three games against the Diamondbacks before suffering two consecutive losses at the hands of the Padres, including Wednesday's 9-8 extra-inning setback at PNC Park. 

They have now dropped five of their last six games and suffered three straight losses for the first time since early May. To make matters worse, the Pirates have lost more than a few of these recent games in disheartening fashion. They held leads in the sixth inning or later in three of their four losses during this homestand, including Wednesday night when they squandered a one-run lead in the ninth inning before leaving the bases loaded in the bottom half and stranding the game-tying run at third in the 10th. 

"We’re in every game. We’re battling. We’re battling back. We just haven’t been able to finish games and we've got to do that," Shelton said. "To continue to do what we’ve done through the first 110 games, 120 games, whatever it is, we have to just continue to finish games. Unfortunately on this homestand so far, we have not." 

The Pirates, who have now dropped three of their last four series after winning two straight against the Phillies and Cardinals to open up the second half of the season, are beginning to fade a bit. They're currently a game under .500 with a four-game deficit in the wild card chase entering Thursday afternoon's series finale against the Padres. And things won't get any easier during this stretch of games against teams jockeying for playoff position. Upon the conclusion of this homestand, they travel to Los Angeles and San Diego for a West Coast trip against two of the top teams in a talented National League West. 

"I think in times like this, we have to remember we're a good ball club, but it's still the big leagues and it's going to be hard," said Michael A. Taylor, who went 1 for 4 with a walk and a run scored in Wednesday's defeat. "We have a tough part of our schedule right now and we're playing a lot of potential playoff teams, so it's a good test for us." 

This latest loss may have served as the most deflating of the bunch. The Pirates held a 6-5 lead heading into the ninth inning thanks to this two-run single by Andrew McCutchen in the sixth: 

McCutchen also added this solo home run to tie the game at 4-4 in the fourth ...

... but his heroics were wasted in the ninth when David Bednar blew a save opportunity by serving up a solo shot to Jackson Merrill, who went deep twice in San Diego's victory, to tie the game at 6-6: 

From there, the Pirates had a chance to walk it off in the bottom half of the ninth. They loaded the bases on a single by Kiner-Falefa, an error that allowed Connor Joe to reach and an intentional walk to Ke'Bryan Hayes. Ji Hwan Bae followed by grounding into a force out and Oneil Cruz grounded out to first to end the inning. 

"It's challenging. The goal is to win the ball game, so anytime we give up the lead or lose a game, no matter how that happens, it's not ideal," Taylor said. "We all just pick each other up. It's not any one person. We make sure we're playing quality baseball, have each other's back and go out there as a team." 

The Padres scored three runs off Colin Holderman, who has had his own individual struggles as of late, in the top half of the 10th before the Pirates answered with two runs in the bottom half on a bases-loaded walk to Bryan Reynolds and a wild pitch that allowed Taylor to score. But three straight outs occurred with a runner in scoring position, presenting another example in which the Pirates let a late opportunity go squandered. 

“We've got to bounce back," Shelton said. "I think the fact that what happened in the 10th, we just continued to go, we continued to have good at-bats. We just weren’t able to get that one big hit at the end to finish it.”

While every game is important during a long baseball season, each one carries a heightened level of importance for the Pirates from here forward, especially with other teams in the wild card race starting to heat up. If they want to salvage their season and continue to contend down the stretch, it will all start with a bounce-back effort Thursday afternoon.

"Show up and play the game tomorrow," Marco Gonzales said. "That's how we're wired. That's what we do. I know it's tough after some of these losses but you have to find a way to turn the page, show up and compete."