It seems like every blog I post starts with something about the Pirates doing the exact opposite of what they should do if they want to get in to the playoffs.  Why should this one be any different?  Losing the first two games of this series to the Brewers pretty much knocks the Pirates out of the playoff race.

Mathematically they have eliminated from winning the NL Central division title and now sit 4.5 games back of a Wild Card spot.  Also, they now have a record of 74-74, which is exactly .500. The Pirates have not had a winning percentage this low since June 2^nd.  To put it in perspective, that was before my own and many other college freshman’s high school graduation.  In just about a month and a half the Pirates have managed to go from 16 games over .500 to being exactly .500.  It’s honesty ridiculous.

This series has been a disaster to say the least.  AJ pitched well enough to get the win on Tuesday, giving up only 2 runs in 6 innings.  However once again, the bullpen imploded giving up 3 runs in their 3 innings of work, making it a 6-0 final.  Having only 3 hits as an offense doesn’t exactly help win games either.  Yesterday’s game was more of the same as the Pirates lost 3-1.  Rookie Kyle McPherson took James McDonald’s spot in the rotation and was hit with the loss, as he didn’t make it out of the 5^th inning.  The only offense of the night came in the 9^th inning as Andrew McCutchen hit his 29^th homerun of the year, tying Pedro for the team lead.

At this point the Pirates are playing to see where they stand coming in to next season, because in my opinion finishing .500 is an embarrassment compared to where they were a month ago and where they could have finished the season.  Wandy has been the team’s best pitcher of late, hopefully he can keep it up as he starts this evening at 4:05 p.m.