Going Deep: Streak's over, but offense still all wet
The Pirates continued their offensive futility tonight at PNC Park, but, at the least, avoided setting a Major League Baseball record for consecutive games with four or fewer runs scored.
While their 26-game streak was snapped by a two-run mini-rally in the ninth inning of an 8-5 loss to the Brewers, the game still served up several fresh examples of their struggles at the plate, as they left 10 runners on base and went 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position. They are now hitting .214 in such situations, ranking 27th in MLB.
In the first inning, Milwaukee starter Aaron Civale couldn't find his command in walking Oneil Cruz, allowing a single to Andrew McCutchen and hitting Bryan Reynolds with a pitch to present Joey Bart with the team’s first opportunity. No outs. Bases load.
On the first pitch, Bart chopped weakly to third baseman Caleb Durbin for a 5-3 double play that added to the Pirates' major-league-leading double play total, now at 19:
In his next at-bat in the third inning, Bart had runners at second and third. This time, he showed patience in seeing seven pitches from Civale, only to go down swinging:
“Usually, when you're thoughtful of what’s going on, like, ‘Hey man, however many runs I left on the field today’ ... obviously, you know that, but that’s baseball," Bart would say afterward. "You’ve got to be ready to fight and come back and get the job done the next time and the next time. At least for me, it’s playing the long game and being prepared every day. You can catch fire at any time. If you’re over-thoughtful about failing in a particular game or a particular series, that’s the quickest way to spin out.”
Ke’Bryan Hayes entered the evening as the Pirates' second-most productive hitter with runners in scoring position, batting .304 with 15 RBIs. He had his own opportunity with bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, only to pop out to short.
After the 110-minute rain delay in the sixth, Milwaukee reliever Carlos Rodriguez came back out to face Reynolds with runners on the corners and two outs. What was the final result? A swinging strikeout on a high fastball in a 2-2 count:
Those final two runs in the ninth are almost worthy of an asterisk, as Rodriguez somehow stayed in the game through the delay, until his 74th pitch saw Reynolds double to the center-field wall to make it 8-4 with no outs and two runners in scoring position.
Up came Bart yet again, only to strike out. Spencer Horwitz then rolled out to third, and the Brewers conceded the run that'd allow the Pirates to escape ignominious history. And Hayes lined out to finally send everyone home.
During the dreadful 26-game streak, and adding in this particular performance, the Pirates batted .220 with 17 home runs, two triples, 29 doubles, 91 walks and 220 strikeouts to produce 2.37 runs per game. And the ugliest part of that might be that those totals are not much different than the full-season totals of the majors' worst run-scoring offense (151 runs or 2.96 per game) with a .219 batting average (29th), 34 home runs (29th) and .622 OPS (29th).
“Still searching for that big hit in a big moment," Don Kelly said.
The Nos. 1-6 hitters in the lineup tonight combined to go 8 for 23. Among the remaining three, Adam Frazier went 0 for 3 with a walk, Tommy Pham 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and a double play to drag his average down to .187.
The 1969 California Angels were the previous team to have a 26-game streak of four runs or less and, like the Pirates, they fired their manager, Bill Rigney, with an 11-28 record. The Angels would have a surprising surge to their season, finishing 71-91-1 for third place in the American League West.
The Pirates’ .333 winning percentage has them on pace to go 54-108. And things won't get any better if the offense doesn't get any better.
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THE ASYLUM
Eric Bowser
5:50 am - 05.23.2025North ShoreGoing Deep: Streak's over, but offense still all wet
The Pirates continued their offensive futility tonight at PNC Park, but, at the least, avoided setting a Major League Baseball record for consecutive games with four or fewer runs scored.
While their 26-game streak was snapped by a two-run mini-rally in the ninth inning of an 8-5 loss to the Brewers, the game still served up several fresh examples of their struggles at the plate, as they left 10 runners on base and went 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position. They are now hitting .214 in such situations, ranking 27th in MLB.
In the first inning, Milwaukee starter Aaron Civale couldn't find his command in walking Oneil Cruz, allowing a single to Andrew McCutchen and hitting Bryan Reynolds with a pitch to present Joey Bart with the team’s first opportunity. No outs. Bases load.
On the first pitch, Bart chopped weakly to third baseman Caleb Durbin for a 5-3 double play that added to the Pirates' major-league-leading double play total, now at 19:
In his next at-bat in the third inning, Bart had runners at second and third. This time, he showed patience in seeing seven pitches from Civale, only to go down swinging:
“Usually, when you're thoughtful of what’s going on, like, ‘Hey man, however many runs I left on the field today’ ... obviously, you know that, but that’s baseball," Bart would say afterward. "You’ve got to be ready to fight and come back and get the job done the next time and the next time. At least for me, it’s playing the long game and being prepared every day. You can catch fire at any time. If you’re over-thoughtful about failing in a particular game or a particular series, that’s the quickest way to spin out.”
Ke’Bryan Hayes entered the evening as the Pirates' second-most productive hitter with runners in scoring position, batting .304 with 15 RBIs. He had his own opportunity with bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, only to pop out to short.
After the 110-minute rain delay in the sixth, Milwaukee reliever Carlos Rodriguez came back out to face Reynolds with runners on the corners and two outs. What was the final result? A swinging strikeout on a high fastball in a 2-2 count:
Those final two runs in the ninth are almost worthy of an asterisk, as Rodriguez somehow stayed in the game through the delay, until his 74th pitch saw Reynolds double to the center-field wall to make it 8-4 with no outs and two runners in scoring position.
Up came Bart yet again, only to strike out. Spencer Horwitz then rolled out to third, and the Brewers conceded the run that'd allow the Pirates to escape ignominious history. And Hayes lined out to finally send everyone home.
During the dreadful 26-game streak, and adding in this particular performance, the Pirates batted .220 with 17 home runs, two triples, 29 doubles, 91 walks and 220 strikeouts to produce 2.37 runs per game. And the ugliest part of that might be that those totals are not much different than the full-season totals of the majors' worst run-scoring offense (151 runs or 2.96 per game) with a .219 batting average (29th), 34 home runs (29th) and .622 OPS (29th).
“Still searching for that big hit in a big moment," Don Kelly said.
The Nos. 1-6 hitters in the lineup tonight combined to go 8 for 23. Among the remaining three, Adam Frazier went 0 for 3 with a walk, Tommy Pham 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and a double play to drag his average down to .187.
The 1969 California Angels were the previous team to have a 26-game streak of four runs or less and, like the Pirates, they fired their manager, Bill Rigney, with an 11-28 record. The Angels would have a surprising surge to their season, finishing 71-91-1 for third place in the American League West.
The Pirates’ .333 winning percentage has them on pace to go 54-108. And things won't get any better if the offense doesn't get any better.
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