PITTSBURGH — When the Pittsburgh Pirates headed into their series against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 2, they were 20-9 with the best record in the National League and second-best record in baseball behind those same Tampa Bay Rays.
People were saying the series against the Rays and the following series against the Toronto Blue Jays would be the first true test for a Pirates team that was playing better than anyone ever anticipated.
They ended up getting swept in both series. Yet, perhaps even worse than that, they played the last-place Colorado Rockies in a three-game set and lost two out of three. And because they lost the last game of a three-game set against the Washington Nationals on April 30, they’re now 1-9 in their last ten games.
And things aren’t getting easier for the Pirates, who are clinging to a half-game lead in the NL Central over Milwaukee because they have to go into Baltimore to face a surprising Orioles team who just finished a series against the league-leading Rays and beat them two out of three.
On the latest episode of the Locked On Pirates podcast, host Ethan Smith previews the series and discusses what the Pirates must do in Baltimore to get back on the winning side and turn things around.
Smith said about the Pirates falling back to earth, “About two weeks ago, it would have been, ‘Oh, this team can beat anybody.’ Now it’s, ‘Can they win a game in this series?’
Baltimore is the fourth AL East team the Pirates will have faced already this season, and so far, the only team they’ve had success against is Boston, who they swept in a three-game set in Fenway April 3 - April 5. The Orioles are in second place behind the Rays and playing much better than most people expected—much like the Pirates two weeks ago.
The biggest problem the Pirates have had in this bad stretch of games; not getting the big hit. They wasted two big opportunities in their game against the Rockies on Wednesday, with the worst failure being when they had the bases loaded and no out in the sixth inning and didn’t score.
Smith previewed the pitching matchups and talked about how on paper, those matchups favor the Pirates but how they need to execute in this series. He also discussed how the Pirates seemed to be getting away from what was making them successful in April, saying, “We have not seen the Pirates have that go ahead and attack in the early innings mantra that they had in April and not waiting on getting runs.” He added, “Now, you see how things are where the Pirates are not scoring runs.”
Wednesday afternoon was the first time the Pirates scored more than two runs in the entire month of May, and they were shut out by Toronto, 4-0 on May 5.
During this slide, Pirates manager Derek Shelton has said repeatedly to reporters how the Pirates “have been looking for that one big swing to revitalize the offense.”
Will it happen against Baltimore? The Pirates and their fans hope so because if it doesn’t, that slim lead they have in the National League Central will disappear.
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