Wasted opportunities sink the Bucs
The two games the Pirates lost in this series were two games they easily could have won. Each game had a common theme - wasted opportunities by the Pirate offense.
Friday night's 3-0 loss saw the Pirates go 1-for-7 at the plate with runners in scoring position. The one hit they had was a base hit to right field by Mark Mathias, a base hit that ended with Canaan Smith-Njigba being thrown out at the plate. They ledt 8 runners on base in the loss.
Sunday afternoon was much of the same. Pittsburgh batters went a woeful 1-for-10 at the plate with RISP. This included a gold opportunity in the 7th inning with the game tied at 3 and bases load with just one out where they failed to score. 9 men were left on base in that loss.
Facing a team like the Cardinals you need to pounce when scoring chances present themselves. The Pirates failed to do this in both losses in this series, and that was a major factor in the team having to settle for a series split in a series they should have won.