Another big rally, another blown lead, another loss ... and last place

LOS ANGELES -- Despite hitting two home runs in his return to the lineup after missing three games to a banged up knee, Andrew McCutchen didn't have much cause to celebrate. He helped the Pirates erase an early four-run deficit, and they'd take a 10th-inning lead ... that'd wind up in yet another excruciating loss, by a 6-5 final in the bottom half of that inning Sunday at Dodger Stadium. 

"I don't feel great. We lost," McCutchen said, standing in front of his locker with his left knee wrapped. "I mean, yeah, nice to hit two homers, but I would've rather won the game."

Wins have now eluded the Pirates for more than a week. They've lost a season-high seven in a row and nine of their past 10 and, with this one, fell into last place in the National League Central Division: 

MLB.Com

They've now been on the bad end of back-to-back sweeps against the Padres -- their next opponent on this West Coast trip -- and Dodgers, and sit five games back of the final wild-card spot in the National League. At the time of their last victory Aug. 3, the Pirates were two games above .500 and trailed the Diamondbacks by 2.5 games for the final wild-card spot. They were also third in the division, ahead of the Reds and Cubs. 

"That's where we are. Gotta fight through it. Gotta fight through and get ready for the next one," McCutchen said. "This game takes no prisoners. Gotta be ready to go the next day."

The Pirates have experienced some tough stretches this season, including a six-game span in April where they were swept in back-to-back series by the Mets and Red Sox. They also struggled to produce positive results the last time they were in the state of California, as they lost five of six games against the Giants and Athletics in late April/early May. By the end of that trip, they had lost 16 of 21 games. 

But, considering the fashion in which they've lost some of these games, this is worse. 

In two of their losses against the Padres during this latest homestand, the Pirates held leads entering the ninth inning before David Bednar blew back-to-back saves. This latest defeat was eerily similar. No, Bednar didn't blow a save this time around. Actually, he managed to pitch a scoreless ninth inning before the Pirates took their late lead on a 10th-inning RBI single by Bryan Reynolds. But the end result was the same as the two that preceded it.

In the bottom half, Bednar struggled for the third time in five days. He allowed a game-tying double to Kiké Hernandez on a splitter that caught the inner part of the plate and eventually surrendered a game-winning, two-out single to Teoscar Hernandez on a high 0-2 fastball at the top of the zone: 

"Obviously this is a tough little stretch, but I have total confidence I'm going to get through this," said Bednar, who has allowed five runs on six hits and four walks over his past 3 1/3 innings. "These guys battled back today and it shows a lot of toughness and grit out of them. To not get the job done is really infuriating." 

In the eyes of Derek Shelton, Bednar's woes have stemmed from a lack of fastball command. It's the same pitch he threw right down the middle when the Padres' Jackson Merrill hit a game-tying homer on Wednesday, and it's a pitch he struggled to execute again Thursday. 

"I know Kiké hit a split that looked like it stayed up, but the fastball to Teoscar looked like it was supposed to be above the zone, and it looked like it stayed in the zone," Shelton said. "When you stay in the zone to a really good hitter, he’s going to put a really good swing on it. We’ve got to get the fastball command back to where it was and being able to execute that.” 

The Pirates rallied from two deficits in their loss to the Padres on Wednesday before coming all the way back from a four-run deficit in Thursday's defeat. They erased another four-run differential Sunday, as the Dodgers got to work early against Bailey Falter. Will Smith and Amed Rosario drove in runs with a double and a single, respectively, in the first before a two-run double by Teoscar Hernandez made it a 4-0 game in the second. 

"It was definitely a grind, for sure," said Falter, who allowed four runs on seven hits with three walks through four innings. "Curveball hasn't really been the best for me recently. A lot of foul balls, too. Great team and I tried to do my best, especially for the bullpen. The bullpen came in and did a fantastic job after me. Very grateful for that, but it's frustrating, for sure." 

McCutchen cut into the lead with his first home run of the day, as he went the opposite way for a two-run shot off of Tyler Glasnow in the third: 

McCutchen came through again in the eighth, sending an Anthony Banda fastball into the bleachers in left for a game-tying blast: 

“I think the big thing is it sucks and it wears on you, but the fact that they continue to battle and continue to play. We were down 4-0 today and when you’re in a stretch like this, it’s easy that the game becomes a 4-0 game. That wasn’t a 4-0 game. We actually took the lead in that game, so I give our guys credit. They kept going," Shelton said. "We’re going to break through. We’re going to get a big hit. We’re going to make a pitch. We just need a break to break us out of it right now.” 

McCutchen knows how challenging times like these can be and how rewarding it can be to overcome them and find a way to come out better on the other side. It's not easy to see losses pile up like they have over the last week, but there's only one way to stop the bleeding: Show up tomorrow and focus on the next one. 

"Again, the game takes no prisoners," he'd say. "It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter where you're from or what you did to get you there. You've got to show up the next day and be ready to win. Can't feel bad for yourself. Game doesn't feel bad for anybody. Game doesn't care who you are. Game doesn't care what you did last year. Game doesn't care if you was an MVP or an All-Star. You've got to be ready to go the next day. That's what I've learned. I don't care that I hit two homers today. I'll be ready to go tomorrow, trying to win the ballgame. That's what we have to do. Gotta put our big boy pants on and go ... We don't feel bad for each other in here. We're just going to shake it off and get ready to go the next day."