Pittsburgh Pirates home stand review for 8/1-8/8

Overall

This home stand was hard to get a handle on. Yes, the Pirates won five of the eight games they played, and yes, they ended the stretch on a three-game win streak. At the same time, when the three opponents you face are a combined 43 games below .500, going 5-3 in that stretch isn’t something to throw a parade over.

Losing two of three to the poor pitiful Reds is not acceptable. Every Pirate fan knows about the struggles this team has had with Cincy over the past four seasons, and it continues to be aggravating. Luckily, the Bucs ended that series on a high note and have played good baseball for the most part ever since. Going 6-2 or 7-1 on this home stand, however, would have been much sweeter than 5-3. I think that is something that everybody can attest to.

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The important thing to take from all of this is that, somehow, the Pittsburgh Pirates are only 3.5 games out of first place in the Central. While I still do not expect them to win the division by any stretch, it looks more and more apparent by the day that this team could be in it till the bitter end.

In short, if the Pirates have any hope of making the playoffs, going 5-3 at home against three crap teams will not cut it.

Overall grade: C