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Pirates Morning Report: The 97 Game Disaster.

When this season started, I was pessimistic. I became more pessimistic when the Pirates made their final roster moves. I thought this was going to be a season where we would eventually see some young players get an opportunity. Instead, all we saw was them still languishing in AAA. Even when a few of them got called up, they rarely played. The Pirate philosophy of player development seems to be that observation and stagnation are better than participation. At the season’s start, who would have thought that Bubba Chandler wouldn’t appear by the All-Star break? Similarly, who would have thought that Nick Yorke wouldn’t appear by then either? As we will see, it is not like there was very good performances at the Major League level. After 97 games, the Pirates’ record stands at 39-58. What is amazing is that certain parts of the Pirates are performing better than they have in about a decade. However, all of this is being nullified by an offense that is performing worse than any offense in a century. I have stated this many times before; Pirate management does nothing about it. The offensive woes of the Pirates are nothing new. In 2023, they were shut out 16 times. This put them 10th on the all-time list of being shut out. This current crop of hitless wonders has been shut out 12 times already. They are threatening to crack the top 5. Let’s dive in and take a closer look at this historically bad offense.

They are last in baseball in runs scored per game. They are tied for last in the comparison stat of OPS+. They are dead last in all of these offensive categories: home runs, doubles, RBIs, and slugging. This team has absolutely no power. The best of the worst is they get on base just a little better. Their on-base percentage is .300, putting them 27th in the league. According to WAR, their best position player is the left fielder, ranking 18th in the league. Their worst players are their 1st baseman and right fielder, coming in at 26th in the league. Everyone else is in between. Yet the Pirates have not replaced one player. They finally sent down Jared Triolo and his OPS+ of 46 in 160 plate appearances. Ben Cherrington gave him a ringing endorsement, saying he is part of the Pirate future. The Pirates have complete faith in him. I do too. I have total faith that he will never hit above .200. The big disappointments this season are Bryan Reynolds, Spence Horwitz, and Joey Bart. At the moment, they are the worst three players on the Pirates. That is saying something when a team has Henry Davis and Tommy Pham on it. With Pham’s recent hot streak, he is the 3rd best performer that the Pirates have. Oneil Cruz and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are the only ones that have had a better season, but not by much. There have been some positive surprises with the position players this year. Henry Davis has improved his defense significantly. At the very least, he should share the catching duties with Bart. Nick Gonzales is becoming a very unique Pirate. He is the only Pirate in the last 3 years who seems to be improving. He is making progress at the Major League level. His OPS+ has gone from 66 to 96 to 106 in 2025. This, despite missing close to 60 games because of an undiagnosed broken ankle. He still needs to improve his fielding. Some of that could be due to the ankle still being in recovery mode. Of the 13 position players that the Pirates have, only 3 should have a future with the Pirates. They are Cruz, Gonzales, and Davis. I thought I would never be saying this about Davis. The only borderline case is Joey Bart. All the rest should be moved out one way or the other. Now let’s get to the good part of this team.

Without a doubt, the most surprising thing about this team has been their defense. Their defensive efficiency rating is .717, which is second in all of baseball. This is the best defense the Pirates have had in over a decade. Combine that with a pitching staff that is ranked 6th overall in baseball. Their bullpen is ranked 5th and the rotation is ranked 5th. The rotation could be better if the Pirates ever did anything with the 5th starter. You would think that this should be a team that would be in the playoff hunt. After all, it is the old baseball saying that pitching and defense is what really wins games. This is what makes the offensive situation even more frustrating. If just a little bit had been done to strengthen this team offensively, they actually might be in contention. Will the Pirates finally move out what I call the dead wood: Reynolds, Hayes, Frazier, IKF, Horwitz, and Pham? I am all for giving Jack Suwinski one last shot. What have you got to lose at this point? If they get two powerful bats who can hit above the league average, they could start a run. Bring up Nick Yorke and you get a third improved bat. That does not seem like much, does it? It must be, though. The Pirate management team sure can’t seem to do it. Tomorrow, I am going to go to more pleasant times. I’ll revisit 1960. I’ll look at the season when Don Hoak helped lead the Pirates to their 3rd World Series title. I call it the season that time forgot.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Pitchers, Of Course, Snap The Losing Streak.

Final Score: Pirates 2 Twins 1

Why The Pirates Won: Mitch Keller went 6 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits and did not walk anyone. The bullpen of Ferguson, Santana, and Bednar nailed down the last 3 innings, holding the Twins scoreless on 3 hits. The bullpen did not walk a batter either. This performance was just good enough to edge the Twins 2-1. Tommy Pham hit a solo home run in the top of the 2nd for the first Pirate run. They barely scratched out a run in the top of the 9th to win the game. The losing streak ends at 8. It is nice to get a win with the next game 4 days away. The Pirates will start a 6-game home stand on Friday. Isiah Kiner-Falefa led the way with 4 hits. It was the Pirate pitching staff that won this one. I really don’t think the offense will ever get better in its current form. Can’t wait to see what happens at the trade deadline.

Key Moments Of The Game: Keller danced through some raindrops in the early going. He gave up a leadoff double in the 2nd. He held the Twins in check after that. He gave up a single and a double in the bottom of the third to allow his only run. After the double, he retired 11 of the next 12 batters. In the bottom of the 8th, Dennis Santana gave up 2 singles in a row after one was out. On a little dribbler out in front of the plate, Henry Davis made a nice play to get the lead runner at third. Santana got the next batter to fly out to center field to end the inning. As usual, the Pirates got some help to score the go-ahead run in the 9th. After one out, Ke’Bryan Hayes singled to centerfield. Oneil Cruz pinch-hit for Henry Davis. Cruz hit a little dribbler just to the left of the pitcher. He botched the play, and everybody was safe. IKF singled to center to load the bases. Spencer (There Is No O In My Name) Horwitz was the next batter. He hit a sharp ground ball to the left of second baseman Brooks Lee. He made an outstanding diving stop. He was thinking of trying to get a double play. With Horwitz running, it had a good chance of success. It became a moot point when he could not get the ball out of his glove. He was turned and threw Horwitz out at first. The Pirates had their cherished 2nd run. Bednar saved it in the 9th. He gave up a leadoff single. He struck out the next 2 batters on two great curveballs. He got the last batter to ground out, and the losing streak was over.

Next Game: Friday night, White Sox in Pittsburgh. Over the All-Star break, I will take a look at this disastrous season. I will see what I said about this team in late March. I will see where I was right and where I was wrong. I will go back in time to 1960 and look at Don Hoak. He had the season that I say time forgot. Finally, we will look at what the next 65 games might bring. At least, I will look at what I hope they will bring.

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Pirates Morning Report: Burrows Blasted, Pirates Blown Out For 8th Loss In A Row

Final Score: Pirates 4 Twins 12

Why The Pirates Lost: Mike Burrows had a horrific outing. In 1 and 1/3 innings, he was blasted for 6 runs on 5 hits. He walked 3 and threw 56 pitches. The rest of the staff got rocked for 6 more runs on 9 hits. It took them 7 and 2/3 innings to give up those runs. I would be remiss if I did not mention the day Byron Buxton had. He went 5 for 5, hitting for the cycle. He drove in 2 runs and scored 3. The Pirates did manage to score 4 runs, but you know how that is. When a team gets a big lead, giving up a few runs is not a big deal. They definitely had the B squad going out of the bullpen. Through 7 innings, the Pirates had scored 3 runs on 3 hits. This was no offensive breakout for the Pirates. Jack Suwinski hit a home run. Overall, this was just a simple and total blowout win for the Twins. Thank God for the All-Star Break.

Key Moment Of The Game: The bottom of the 2nd was the blowout inning. Mike Burrows had escaped the bottom of the 1st unscathed. He was not so lucky in the bottom of the 2nd. He got the first out of the inning. It would be the last out he got that day. He walked Royce Lewis on 7 pitches. The four balls were nowhere near the plate. To speed up the game, he hit Ty France on the fourth pitch. Oscar (The Grouch) Morin came to the mound to impart some wisdom. He must have told him to groove a curve ball on the first pitch. That’s what he did, and Cody Clemens smashed it into the seats. It was 3-0 Twins. Buxton then took the 3rd pitch of the at-bat and ripped a triple. Willi Castro hit a little dribbler toward the mound that scored Buxton. Burrows showed his control issues are not just in pitching. He threw the ball away, sending Castro to second. It was 4-0 Twins. He walked the next batter on 5 pitches. All four balls were more than a foot outside the strike zone. Only a Pirate would have swung at any of them. Ryan Jeffers singled on the first pitch he saw, and it was 5-0. Mercifully, Burrows was taken out of the game. Seven batters in a row reached base safely. The Twins added another run to make it a 6-run inning. They did not need to, but added 3 more in the third, and the rout was on. The Pirates did score 4 runs, but the Twins did not really care.

Next Game: This afternoon, Twins in Minnesota. Mitch Keller is supposed to start for the Pirates today. Rumor has it that he has prayed to God that they may change their minds and let someone else start. This team has hit a new low. They have lost 8 games in a row to teams that most likely will not make the playoffs. All three have a chance, but right now the Mariners barely have the last spot. It would be nice to see them snap the streak today. It is not likely to happen. What a season.

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Pirates Morning Report: Triple P Offense Leads The Way For 7th Straight Loss

Final Score: Pirates 1 Twins 2

Why The Pirates Lost: The Triple P Offense was in full force. They were passive, taking 24 strikes. They got 8 hits, with only one being an extra base hit. Pathetic. They went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, leaving 8 men on base. Putrid. They struck out 9 times. Bryan Reynolds struck out 3 times. Tommy Pham led the way by taking 5 pitches for strikes. With a runner on third, he took all 5 pitches he saw, striking out. They hit 3 balls over 100 MPH. One of those was by Pham, but he got thrown out at 2nd base. Paul Skenes gave up a 2-run home run and took the loss. In 5 innings of work, he struck out 6 and walked 0. There really is not much else to say. I can’t wait for the All-Star break just to take a break from watching this. Even though this was a one-run game, you felt the Pirates never had a chance.

Key Moment Of The Game: It all boiled down to the 4th inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa got a big 2-out double to knock in a run. He made it to third on the play at the plate. Then Tommy Pham had his magnificent at-bat. He took the first two pitches for balls. He then took 3 straight strikes. All three pitches were well inside the strike zone. None were considered borderline. Looks like he needs another eye exam. Paul Skenes had been perfect through 3 innings. Byron Buxton was awarded a hit on a ball where Ke’Bryan Hayes should have thrown him out. Two batters later, Trevor Larnach took a hanging curve ball on a 3-2 pitch and knocked it into the seats. It was 2-1 Twins and the Pirates laid down and died for the rest of the game. It was an unsuspenseful 7th loss in a row.

Next Game: This afternoon, Twins in Minnesota. If the pattern of this road trip continues, the Pirates will score 1 run in the next game. They will also score 1 run in the game after that. In the first series against the Mariners, they were shut out 3 straight times. In the 2nd series against the Royals, they scored 3 runs in each game. At least Mike Burrows and the rest of the pitching staff know that they have to throw a shutout. Nine losses in a row looks like a lead pipe cinch. The only positive thing. Jared Triolo is no longer on the team.

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Pirates Morning Report: Sixth In A Row Just Like The Fifth.

Final Score: Pirates 3 Royals 4

Why The Pirates Lost: In a game that was very much like the game before, the Pirates lost their 6th in a row. The score was the same, 4-3. The Pirates tied the game at 3-3. In the previous game, the Royals had a walk-off. This time, they scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 8th. In the game before, 3 of the 4 runs came by way of the home run. In this game, all of the runs came via the long ball. There was a little more hitting in last night’s game. The Royals collected 3 more hits and the Pirates had 2 more hits. Falter did a little better than his clone did two nights ago. He pitched 4 and 2/3 innings. He gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. Isaac Mattson gave up the go-ahead home run. Salvador Perez hit 2 home runs, including that game-winner in the bottom of the 8th. The Pirate offense still did not muster a very effective attack. They got back into their passive mode by taking 25 strikes. They had 2 doubles and the rest were singles. Pathetic. For the season, they are last in home runs, slugging, OPS, and OPS+. Putrid.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates scored all of their runs in the top of the 6th. They could have scored a lot more. They had the bases loaded and nobody out. It took a big 2-out single by Ke’Bryan Hayes to knock in the last two runs. Are you watching Yankees? In the other 8 innings, the Pirates only had 5 hits. After the 6th inning, the Pirates had a 2-out double by Tommy Pham, who was stranded. This hot streak by Pham may yet make him a trade commodity. In the top of the 9th, Adam Frazier singled with one out. However, the Pirates could not advance him into scoring position. The Royals were saved by the home run ball, which they have found over the last 6 games. They were worse than the Pirates, going 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. They left nine men on base. All of this kept the game close for the Pirates. The inability of the Royals to break the game open could have cost them. The ineptitude of the Pirates saved them.

Next Game: Friday night, the Twins in Minnesota. The Pirates get a day off today. They need it as they limp to the All-Star break. Paul Skenes will start for the Pirates. This will make him a leading candidate to start his second straight All-Star Game. I will tell you one thing: this trade deadline can’t come soon enough. The big talk is around trading Keller and Bednar. Of the two, Bednar has to go. The Pirates should get a good return for both if they make the deals. I think it is more important for the Pirates to get rid of the dead wood. I really don’t care what the return is. Hayes, Reynolds, Pham, and IKF should all be wearing different uniforms by Aug. 1. I think the fans need this day off more than the Pirates. I know I sure do.

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Pirates Morning Report: Fifth Loss In A Row A Heartbreaker

Final Score: Pirates 3 Royals 4

Why The Pirates Lost: Both starters pitched well. Seth Lugo went 6+ innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. Oneil Cruz and Nick Gonzales each homered to account for the runs. Mitch Keller went 7 innings, giving up 2 earned runs on 4 hits. At one point in the game, he retired 16 batters in a row. For the most part, the Triple P offense lived up to its name. Jack Suwinski came up, and it was like he never left. For the game, he took 6 strikes. In one at-bat, he took all 5 pitches, and 3 were strikes, all of them right down the middle. In his next at-bat, he took a strike to make it 6 pitches in a row, with 4 being strikes. I agree with bringing him up. His AAA numbers are good; his slash line is .280/.382/.544. Despite this poor opening game for Suwinski, the Pirates should give him a good final look. Those are very impressive AAA numbers. It’s time to find out: can he finally do it in the big leagues? There is nothing to lose. It is doubtful the Pirates will do this, but they should play him a lot. The Pirates lost their 5th in a row. There were lots of key moments in this one.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had just taken the lead. This happened on the Gonzales home run in the top of the 7th. Keller retired the first batter in the bottom of the 7th. Then Henry (Pop Up Specialist) Davis was called for catcher’s interference. Keller got the next batter to fly out to left. Nick Loftin took the very first pitch, a hanging slider right down the middle, and hit it into the seats. This was his 3rd home run of the season, but the 2nd in the last two games. In the top of the 8th, the Royals did everything they could to allow the Pirates to take the lead. The Pirates, as usual, just could not do the job. The Pirates loaded the bases with one out. There was a single and two walks. This brought up Bryan (Blocking All Trades To Contenders So I Don’t Have Any Pressure) Reynolds to the plate. On a 3-1 count, he grounded weakly to second. The Royals could not turn two, and the Pirates tied the game. Nick Gonzales grounded out to end the inning. It was a golden opportunity wasted. The Royals made them pay by getting two hits to open the bottom of the ninth. They moved a runner to third on a fly ball. Hero Nick Loftin drove a line drive to center that Cruz could not make a diving catch. The Royals had the walk-off win. What a road trip.

Next Game: Tonight, Royals in Kansas City. Barry Falter will go for the Pirates tonight. His clone, Andrew Heaney, got lit up by the Royals on Monday. The Royals are countering with left-hander Kris Bubic. We will see if Oneil Cruz will be in the lineup tonight. I do not understand not playing him against left-handers. Bat him 7th or 8th even. How is he going to learn to hit against left-handers if he does not face them? Last year, he had great success against lefties. Granted, he got off to a slow start against them this year. Nothing is going to be accomplished if he does not face them. You could say this is basically the Pirates’ philosophy. Our goal is to accomplish nothing. They have gone beyond their wildest expectations.

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Pirates Morning Report: At Least They Scored

Final Score: Pirates 3 Royals 9

Why The Pirates Lost: The pitchers finally had a bad game. They got blasted for 9 runs on 12 hits. Andrew Heaney took 76 pitches to get through 3 innings. He gave up 4 runs on 6 hits. Chase Shugart came in and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits, including 2 home runs. The Pirates gave up 4 home runs for the game. I might have to change the Pirate offense name to the Double P Offense. They were not very passive for the 2nd straight game. They took only 12 strikes. The Pirates’ offense is pathetic, but at least they are moving the game along by making their outs quickly. The Pirate scoreless streak stopped at 30 innings. Tommy Pham hit a 2-run homer in the 3rd inning. Whew! The Pirates have only two hitters who are above league average, Nick Gonzales and Andrew McCutchen. We all thought the Pirates could not hit last year. This year they are somehow worse. Their regression has been truly amazing. Another great hire by the Pirates: Matt Hague.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates took the lead for the first time on this road trip when Pham hit his home run. In the bottom of the third, Heaney got lit up as he gave up 3 runs. The inning started out with a weak liner perfectly placed by Jonathan India. After that, the Royals hit 5 balls that were 99 MPH or greater. The game was almost broken open here. Tommy Pham made a great catch to end the inning that saved 2 runs. Chase Shugart started the 4th inning and quickly gave up a double and a home run. You knew right then that the game was over. At one point in the game, the Pirates sent 20 men to the plate without getting a hit. They were putrid once again.

Next Game: Tonight, Royals in Kansas City. The Pirates have lost 4 in a row. Don Kelly’s record now is 26-28. This should be a good pitching matchup. Seth Lugo is going up against Mitch Keller. Will there be a run scored? More appropriately, will the Pirates even have a base runner? What I find amazing about all of the Pirates’ offensive woes is that nothing has been done about it. Nobody gets sent down. I just have this feeling that the Pirates are going to move a lot of dead wood at the deadline. They will have this very good August and September, but it will be too late.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Do Return The Favor

Final Score: Pirates 0 Mariners 1

Why The Pirates Lost: They got shut out for the 3rd consecutive game. They have not scored for 28 innings. The Triple P Offense did not quite live up to its name in this game. They were not all that passive. They took only 15 pitches for strikes. They made up for it by being so pathetic. They struck out 13 times. They did not walk. Why would you walk any Pirate batter? They had no extra-base hits. They did have 3 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The game before, they had none. They are pretty putrid, also. They have 4 players slugging .300 or less. They have 5 players on the team that have on-base percentages of under .300. All of this wasted another great pitching performance by Paul Skenes, Carmon Mlodzinski, and Genesis Cabrera. The Pirates head to Kansas City to play the Royals. They have more trouble scoring runs than the Pirates. They prevent runs better than the Pirates. The all-time scoreless streak of 48 innings is a real possibility.

Key Moments Of The Game. Oneil Cruz’s spectacular throw to nail the Mariners runner at the plate was impressive. It could have been a key moment if the Pirates had scored any runs. The Pirates’ offense really never threatened to score. In the top of the 5th, the Pirates were able to put together two hits in an inning. Jared (Why Am I In The Big Leagues) Triolo was on first base with one out. He had just blasted an 87 MPH ground ball into a force out. Henry Davis hit a 77 MPH ground ball perfectly between 1st and 2nd. Why Triolo did not make it to 3rd base on the play, I don’t know. IKF’s fly ball would have scored him. Randy Arozarena hit the home run that decided the game. It was on a pitch right down the middle, slightly above the knees. The road trip is becoming a disaster.

Next Game: Tonight, Royals in Kansas City. As mentioned before, the Pirates head for Kansas City to chase history. In the last 2 games, the Pirates have not had an extra-base hit. They are truly the punchless wonders. They are last in home runs, having hit 61. The White Sox are next with 70. What the Pirates do at the trade deadline does not really interest me anymore. You know that BC will just screw it up. At least we know what the glitch was: the six-game winning streak. Buckle up. It is going to be a long ride to October.

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Pirates Morning Report: Will Pirates Return The Favor

Final Score: Pirates 0 Mariners 1

Why The Pirates Lost: For the second straight game, the Pirates were shut out. This time they were more inept than the game before. They never got a runner to 2nd base. They had 2 hits, both by Spencer Horwitz. Tommy Pham walked for their only other base runner. They struck out 11 times. This series has that same eerie feeling as the Cardinal series, but with the Pirates in the Cardinals role. The Pirates won the first game of the Cardinals series 7-0. They lost to the Mariners 6-0. They beat the Cardinals 1-0 in game 2. The Mariners beat the Pirates by the same score in game 2. Mike Burrows had a nice outing. In 5 innings, he gave up 3 hits and 4 walks. I guess the law of averages caught up with Caleb Ferguson. He gave up the only run of the game. He had only given up 1 run since May 17th over his last 19 appearances. The Pirates start this road trip 0-2 as they head for the All-Star break. Is the glitch the 43 runs they scored on the 6-game win streak? Or is the glitch being shut out for 2 games in a row? We should find out today.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had no key offensive moments. They reverted back to the Triple P offense. Passive. Putrid. Pathetic. The ninth was a synopsis of the game. They took 3 strikes, Passive. They swung at 5 strikes, missing 4, Putrid. They swung and missed at one ball, Pathetic. Caleb Ferguson came on in the bottom of the 6th inning. He gave up a leadoff double. The runner advanced to 3rd on a ground out. Ferguson got the next batter to ground out to Hayes, holding the runner on 3rd for the 2nd out. There was optimism that he would get out of the inning. Ben Williamson took a 3-1 pitch that wasn’t bad and drilled it into right field. It fell for a base hit and the Mariners had the deciding run. Ferguson then loaded the bases with a hit batsman and a walk. Isaac Mattson came on and struck out Julio Rodriguez on a tough six-pitch at bat. This ended the threat. At the time, you hoped that this might be a key moment for the Pirates. Alas, it was not. Let’s hope the offense perks back up today.

Next Game: This afternoon, Mariners in Seattle. Paul Skenes goes for the Pirates today. He may be more jinxed than Keller. This would be a great day for the Pirate offense to bounce back. It would also be great for Skenes to throw a nice 7 to 8-inning shutout. We shall simply call this glitch day. Will the real Pirate offense please stand up? It is a little scary if you ask me. The suspense is killing me. It’s just like waiting to see if Greg Brown will ever pronounce Horwitz’s name correctly. I guess the difference is we all know that is not happening. With the Pirate offense there is at least a chance.

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Pirates Morning Report: Another Dominate Series

The Pirates extended their win streak to 6 games by sweeping the Cardinals. The offense did ok scoring 13 runs for the series. They only scored one run in game 2 but it was enough. In a spectacular pitching performance the Pirates did not allow a run for the entire series. In the 1st game of the series Andrew Heaney was dominate taking a no hitter into the 6th inning. For the game the Cardinals had 4 hits and a walk. Games 2 and 3 were studies in frustration for the Cardinals offense. In game 2 they had 7 hits and 4 walks. They were 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. This was the 1-0 game where the Pirates only had 4 hits. Don Kelly looked brilliant when he pinch hit for the suddenly hot Tommy Pham. Pinch hitter Adam Frazier doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Henry Davis’s sacrifice fly drove in the only run of the game. The Cardinals offensive failures continued in game 3. They had 6 hits, including 3 doubles, and 3 walks. They left 10 men on base again by going 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. This all added up to 3 straight shutouts for the Pirates and a 6 game winning streak. The Pirates head on the road to face the Mariners,Royals and Twins. These teams are decent but not power houses. If they can somehow someway do something extraordinary and continue this winning streak for a few more games they may salvage this season yet.