Brewers Continue Domination of Pirates

When I wrote the Pirates are finding a way to win piece a couple of days ago, I was afraid that it might be the last positive thing I write about them for a while, even if the article itself was only semi-positive. I knew the Pirates were giving up runs at an alarming rate, I knew the Pirates were not scoring enough runs, and I knew the Milwaukee Brewers were on deck for a three game series. That is the same Milwaukee Brewers who had beaten the Pirates 33 of the previous 45 match-ups, including at one time a 17 game win streak against the Buccos and a still active 21 game win streak at home. (To make matters worse, the Pirates will begin a three game series in Milwaukee on Monday.)

Sure enough, the Pirates were absolutely scorched in the first two games of this series. The Pirates have been outscored 16-1 in the two embarrassing losses, pushing their season run differential to 91-54 in favor of their opponents. The (-37) run differential is now the worst in the majors. The Pirates have not only been dominated in their first two meetings with Brewers, they have looked flat-out terrible in all three aspects of the game. Terrible pitching, bad hitting and poor fielding are about the best adjectives to describe the Pirates’ play in the past two games. All of the momentum and good will that the Pirates had built up over their first twelve games has quickly disappeared in two nights. The only possible positive for the Pirates is that their fans may have too busy worrying about the Penguins playoff run to have noticed their awfulness.

Daniel McCutchen will take the mound later today for the Pirates in an afternoon tilt to wrap up the series with the Brewers before they embark on a 10 game road trip. It will be McCutchen’s task to stop the bleeding a little and help the Pirates regain a little of the momentum they had gained from their quick start that they are so dangerously close to losing entirely. I, for one, do not have high hopes that he or the Pirates can accomplish this.