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Pittsburgh Pirates: Bullpen, Defensive Woes Continue In Series Loss vs St. Louis
By Marty Leap
It was another rough road trip for the Pittsburgh Pirates
An argument can be made that the Pittsburgh Pirates just played their most important series of the season. After being swept by the Chicago Cubs over the weekend, the team was looking to bounce back against the St. Louis Cardinals in an effort to get back on track. Unfortunately, this did not happen.
After being swept by the Cubs the Pirates fell to 44-48 on the season, and dropped to 5.5 games out of first place in the National League Central and 3.5 games out in the NL Wild Card race. The team needed to pick up a series victory against the Cardinals, or risk starting to fade in the NL race. While the Bucs were eight outs away from picking up a needed series victory, they could not seal the deal.
After dropping two of three against the Cardinals, the Pirates are now 1-5 since the All-Star Break. This completely undoes all the great work they did before the break, and drops them to 45-50 overall on the season.
Despite the ugly overall record, the Pirates still own a winning record in series played. The Pirates are 14-13-4 in their 31 series played this season. Baseball, y’all!
Next up for the Pirates is a three-game series back at home against the Philadelphia Phillies. Before we start to focus on their cross-state foes, let’s take a look at three key takeaways from the Pirates series loss against the Cardinals.