Pittsburgh Pirates Week in Review: Back in the hunt

The Pittsburgh Pirates have put themselves back in the hunt for a playoff spot, winning 11 of their last 13 games.

What a stretch the Pirates have been on over the last two weeks. The Bucs finished the first half off strong with a series win over the Washington Nationals and a rare five-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.

They built on that success over this last week, sweeping the Cincinnati Reds and taking two of three from the Cleveland Indians, the team that currently leads the American League Central.

Over the course of the last two weeks, the Pirates built an 11-game winning streak, getting over .500 for the first time in months. The streak was broken Wednesday with a 4-0 loss to Cleveland and the Bucs struggled to put another winning streak together Thursday, falling 12-6 in game one of a four game set with the New York Mets.

Despite the two straight losses, the Bucs have won 11 of their last 13 games dating back to July 11. They are now sitting in third place in the NL Central at 53-51, trailing the first place Chicago Cubs by eight games. However, they 3.5 games back of the second wild card spot.

Aside from extending their lengthy streak and seeing it end, there were plenty of impressive performances and intriguing storylines this week. Here is a review of some of the top storylines from the week that was in Pirates baseball.

Inuries to marte, dickerson provide big blows

Over the course of the Pirates’ winning streak, Starling Marte and Corey Dickerson stood out as two of the stars for a Pirates offense that scored 73 runs over the 11 games.

So it’s no coincidence that the Pirates have lost two in a row with those two out of the lineup due to injuries.

Marte started the final game of the series in Cleveland Wednesday before leaving following the first inning after being struck in the hand by a Trevor Bauer pitch.

Marte initially stayed in the game following the HBP, but was replaced after being caught attempting to steal second base. The Pirates outfielder missed the series opener against New York Thursday and it looks as if he is still considered day-to-day with left hand discomfort.

Dickerson has missed the last two games after leaving the second game of the Indians series with left hamstring discomfort. Like Marte, Dickerson is also considered day-to-day.

In his last seven games, Marte has been a force at the dish, hitting .357 with three home runs and 11 RBIs. He is currently riding a 17-game hitting streak, which didn’t end Wednesday due to the fact that he did not have an official at-bat.

The hitting streak started with a pair of hits on the fourth of July. Over the course of his streak, Marte has 10 multi-hit games and raised his average from .265 to .292.

Dickerson has also made an impact over the last seven games while his power has finally emerged. He is hitting .419 with five home runs and nine RBIs over his last seven contests and has at least one hit in each of his last six. During that modest six game hitting streak, Dickerson has five multi-hit games, including a 4 for 5 performance against the Reds on Sunday.

stellar starting performances

This week, the Pirates had stellar pitching performances from each of their starting pitchers.

Jameson Taillon had a pair of outings this week against the Reds and Indians, going 1-1 with a 2.19 ERA in the two outings. Taillon struck out 11 and walked two while giving up three runs on 13 hits in 12.1 innings.

Taillon has really bounced back over the last two months following a less than ideal start to the season, and he just continued to roll this week.

Nick Kingham also started a pair of games this week, pitching Saturday against the Reds and Thursday against the Mets. The young right hander allowed two runs on four hits in 6.1 solid innings last weekend, but struggled against the Mets, allowing six runs on seven hits in just three innings.

Trevor Williams, Joe Musgrove and Ivan Nova each went six-plus innings in their lone starts this week. Williams threw six shutout frames against the Indians Monday, while Musgrove and Nova each allowed two runs in starts against the Indians and Reds, respectively.

With the exception of Kingham’s rough outing Thursday, Pirates starters were exceptional this past week. They’ve given the team a chance to win each time out and made it easier for the red hot offense to do its thing.

Diaz continuing to produce

With Francisco Cervelli‘s lingering concussion issues, Elias Diaz has continued to take full advantage of the opportunity to start behind the plate.

While members of the Pirates outfield have led the way offensively for the Pirates over the last few weeks, others have also come up big over that span. Josh Bell, Jordy Mercer and Diaz are three examples as each hit over .300 in the last week.

Diaz is hitting .304 (7 for 23) in five starts over the last seven days and is still hitting .286 on the year with seven home runs and 25 RBIs.

Though Cervelli is back from the disabled list and will likely get his fair share of starts behind the plate, Diaz has proven capable of being able to take the load off the injury prone backstop when necessary.