The Pittsburgh Pirates managed to climb seven games above .500 in late July and even spent a few days atop the division, in July.
Then reality set in.
The Bucs soft-toss pitching staff started getting hammered. Kevin Correia, Charlie Morton and company have allowed the most runs in the NL since the All-Star break. And the offense, which was never good, couldn't buy a hit.
Since July 29, Pittsburgh is 5-11 in one-run games since the break and allowed at least 10 runs eight times in that same span.
Add a 10-game losing streak that started immediately after a controversial (to say the least) 19-inning loss in Atlanta where the Pirates got the brunt end of a blown call, and you have a recipe of the same.
The Pirates fell for the 82nd time last Wednesday, clinching the clubs 19th consecutive losing season. A streak untouched by any team in American sports.
In 19 years since the Pirates last had a winning season, Major League Baseball added four teams (Florida, Colorado, Arizona and Tampa), all have made the World Series, and two have won it.
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| Things are starting to look up for the Pirates. |
Instead of dumping all the players that had pseudo major league talent, the Pirates were active buyers at the trade deadline, not breaking the farm system adding two veteran bats (Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick).
Pittsburgh has been more aggressive during the draft, this year shelling out $13 million to sign top picks pitcher Gerrit Cole and high school outfielder Josh Bell.
The mastermind behind the Pirates new strategy, general manager Neal Huntington, has signed on for a few more years, as has outfielder Jose Tabata.
Future success might hinge on Pittsburgh going outside its comfort zone to lock up the team's only bone-fide star, Andrew McCutchen. And outside third baseman Pedro Alvarez the team still needs to find some power hitting.
There's a long way to go still.
While I doubt the streak is going to stop at 19, for the first time in two decades there's room for optimism.
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