PITTSBURGH — Given that they are clinging to their last playoff hopes, the Pirates entered September needing to play as close to flawless baseball as possible.
Their performance on Wednesday night against the lowly Giants was anything but, and Pittsburgh’s already-slim playoff chances took a big hit with a 3-2 loss.
Had the Pirates won the game, they would have been 4.5 games behind the Diamondbacks, the team currently holding possession of the third National League wild card spot. Instead, the Pirates fell four games under .500 and are now 5.5 games off the pace.
With only 22 games remaining on the schedule, every game and every play matters. The Pirates didn’t make the plays they needed to on Wednesday night, and they paid a big price for it.
With the score tied 1-1 in the fifth inning the Giants put two on with one out. Rafael Devers, who homered in the first and drew a walk in the third, skied a popup into shallow right-center. Center fielder Oneil Cruz, who couldn’t track down a Shay Whitcomb double in the right-center gap earlier in the inning, converged on the ball. As did right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez and shortstop Jared Triolo.
The trio of Pirates watched the ball land in the outfield grass to load the bases. San Francisco ended up capitalizing on the miscue by scoring two runs in their one-run win.
Manager Don Kelly said after the game the ball was “lost in the twilight,” and Cruz was unable to track the ball down after getting a read on it too late.
That’s not winning baseball, but the fault is certainly not all on Cruz or the other two defenders in the area who didn’t make the play.
Offensively, the Pirates went a dreadful 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position against a pitching staff that ranks 23rd in MLB with a 4.38 ERA. In five separate innings — the fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth — the Pirates left a runner on third base.
The big hit has sometimes eluded the Pirates this season. The Pirates did well to force extra innings, but given how many opportunities they had, it was a game that could’ve been settled before the game even got to the 10th. And one that resulted in the desired outcome.
It’s desperation time for the Pirates. It has been for a while. Unless the Pirates can win the remaining four games on this homestand and overachieve against three likely playoff teams — the Cubs, White Sox and Brewers — after that, Wednesday’s loss might’ve been the nail in the coffin.
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