Oof!

Dropping the first two to LA (Pirates still have to bat in the bottom of the 9^th, so hopefully I’m jinxing the Dodgers) in a four game set isn’t the end of the world, but it really stings on the heels of dropping a home series to San Diego and allowing the Dodgers to score 16 runs in those two games.

The offense is certainly better with a healthy Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier along with trade addition Hanley Ramirez and Shane Victorino, but the Pirates got singled to death on Tuesday night as only one of their 13 hits went for extra bases (a Ramirez double) and someone named Luis Cruz went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs.

Jay Bruce’s walkoff 3-run home run against the Mets only makes it burn that much more.  Of course, it was 0-0 so the Mets had work to do even if he doesn’t hit it.  Not to mention that the Pirates can’t be focused on the Reds right now.  They need to get their own act together first.

It isn’t full-throttle panic time yet as I don’t see this unraveling like last year, but rallying back to save a split with the Dodgers, the team’s chief rival in the wildcard hunt right now, is critical.  Especially with a trip to St. Louis looming.  No two games in mid-August aren’t going to decide the season, we all know that, but the team is in a funk and currently failing to capitalize on a home stand.

A home stand that set up favorable with a cupcake and two wildcard contenders that the Pirates could distance themselves from.  The Diamondbacks earned four-game split, the Dodgers secured no worse than that if they hold their 11-0 lead in the bottom of the 9^th and of course the freakin’ Padres took two of three and could’ve swept had it not been for Sunday’s sick comeback.

If Wandy can grab tomorrow’s win then A.J. closes out the series.  Having Burnett as the series closer, but let’s hope to hell it’s not for a one game salvage.  Later this week I’ll have a feature piece looking into the struggles of Friday’s game one starter in St. Louis, James McDonald.  I hope he’s just going through a rough patch as opposed to a fundamental change in approach, but I won’t know until I dive into the data and video.