Every loss from here on out really hurts the Pirates, primarily because there are less than three weeks left in the season and the Pirates still have a slight chance of making the playoffs. Yesterday’s 7-4 loss to the Cubs hurts even more than most because the Pirates lost to a team who could lose 100 games by seasons end.
James McDonald was bad yesterday. There are no two ways about it. He gave up 4 runs and walked 4 as well in just 3 2/3 innings yesterday, throwing 83 pitches in the dreadful outing. The bullpen also showed mixed results yesterday as Tony Watson and Jared Hughes combined for giving up 3 runs in just 1 inning of work, while Kyle McPherson, Chad Qualls, and rookie Bryan Morris all had scoreless innings of work.
Surprisingly the team’s offense collected 8 hits off of the Cubs pitching staff, however 4 runs wasn’t enough to earn a win. Garrett Jones and Gaby Sanchez both had 2 hits apiece, Andrew McCutchen collected his 27th homerun of the season, and Pedro Alvarez drove in 2 runs giving him a total of 75 RBI on the season.
If the Pirates can comeback today and get the victory with Wandy Rodriguez starting this afternoon, then there is still hope. But another loss today to Chicago really puts the Pirates in a tough spot when it comes to trying to win a Wild Card spot.
