Pittsburgh Pirates Series Takeaways: Everything Goes Wrong in Tampa Bay

In a series that saw absolutely that can go wrong indeed go wrong, the Pittsburgh Pirates were swept for the first time this season in a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays

Well, that sucked. In a very hyped up and highly anticipated series, the Pittsburgh Pirates were swept at Tropicana Field by the Tampa Bay Rays. In a battle of the two teams who entered the series with the two best records in Major League Baseball, nothing went right for the Pirates.

Following the series sweep, the Pirates are now 20-12 on the season. This is still good enough for first place in the National League Central divison. After being swept for the first time this season, the Pirates have lost four games in a row for the first time in 2023 and are now 6-3-1 in series played.

Next up for the Pirates is a much needed trip back home to PNC Park. Well, to be honest, they are probably happy to be heading anywhere but Tampa Bay. It was a frustrating series. Poor defense, failing to hit with runners in scoring position, inept umpiring.

Before we look ahead to this weekend's series against the Toronto Blue Jays, let's take a look back at takeaways from the team being swept in Tampa Bay. One quick note, anyone who watched knows how awful the umpiring was in this series. That will be getting an article of its own on Friday. So, that has been excluded from our takeaways.