CHRISTOPHER PANSINO – OVATHLETICS.COM
At some point this weekend the Pirates are going to snap this losing streak against the 26-40 Cleveland Indians, but just not tonight. The Pirate put up a decent fight though an offense filled seventh inning left the Pirates on the losing end of a 4-3 game.
The key culprit was again the starting pitching, this time with Paul Maholm on the mound. Maholm had gotten off to a good start prior to the seventh inning had given up only two hits and no runs. However the seventh inning proved to be costly for both Maholm and the Pirates as he allowed five hits and four earned runs. He would get two batters out and registering one strikeout, but would ultimately be pulled for Joel Hanrahan after allowing a pair of singles that made the score 3-0.
The Pirates would rally in the bottom of the seventh, but would not match the four runs that the Indians put up early in the inning. With the top of the order up in the inning the two through five hitters of Walker, McCutchen, Jones, and Church, would rally to score three runs. Church who is currently batted sub .200, mostly due to being a bench player, hit the three run RBI double to nearly tie the game.
However, as the Pirates ventured deeper into the bottom half of the lineup their prospect of a comeback ended, as they were retired in order after that. Included in this trio was Pedro Alvarez who still remains hitless in his three games in the majors.
The Pirates losing steak has now extended to 12 games. Interesting is that during the last 12 games the Pirates have lost 8 games by two or fewer runs. Perhaps if the Pirates could get a little more on either end of the plate they wouldn’t be in such a terrible position.
On a not so lighter note, the Pirates are 5 games ahead of Baltimore for the worst record in baseball. The Orioles are an abysmal 18-48 right now and don’t look to be catching up with the Pirates any time soon.
