Back-breaking stat defines Pirates' slide that has taken them out of playoff contention

With Wednesday's 8-2 loss to the San Diego Padres, the Pittsburgh Pirates officially notched their third double-digit losing streak in the last four years.

When they embarked last week on what would turn out to be a disastrous road trip out west, the Pirates were still very much in the playoff hunt – just two games under .500 and 4.5 games back of a National League Wild Card spot, to be exact. Now, they sit eight games under .500 and eight games back of the final Wild Card spot, and their playoff hopes have effectively disappeared into thin air.

Of the 120 games the Pirates played so far this season, more than one-third of them (43) have been decided by one run; that's more than any other team in MLB. Pittsburgh has a record of 19-24 in those one-run games, good for 24th in the league.

Here's the real kicker: half of the Pirates' losses during this current 10-game skid have been one-run losses. That somehow feels even worse than losing by six runs to the Padres (which they have now done twice in as many weeks, for what it's worth). Any game decided by one run is winnable, and the Pirates have been playing like a team that doesn't want to win.

Costly one-run losses have effectively doomed Pirates' playoff hopes

Of course, the most obvious culprit for the Pirates' staggering number of one-run losses is their bullpen. David Bednar has now blown five saves, including two back-to-back in Pittsburgh's last home series against the Padres. Before landing on the 15-day injured list, Colin Holderman was on the hook for four losses in his last five games. Overall, the Pirates' pitching staff has allowed six or more runs in seven of the losses during this 10-game skid, surrendering a total of 14 home runs over all 10 games.

But pitching doesn't deserve all the blame. In their most recent series in San Diego, the Pirates registered seven hits or more in each contest, but managed to score just three total runs over the course of three games.

You can blame the players, the coaches or even the management for the Pirates' disastrous free fall – and, in all honesty, all three deserve a small share of the blame – but it's nowhere near the blame that falls on the ownership. Bob Nutting has never expanded the team payroll enough or hired the right people to create a competitive culture, so we can't really be surprised by the results.

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