In 2010, the Pittsburgh Pirates were one of the worst baseball teams any of us can remember watching. They were bad at pretty literally everything imaginable. In early September, they managed to take two of three, including two in a row, from a contending Atlanta Braves team that still won the wild card. In 2011, the Pirates had one of the worst late-season collapses in recent baseball memory. They went from contender to Same Old Pirates in record time, dropping 43 of their last 62 games. In the midst of that free-fall, they took two of three from the Cardinals, including two in a row on August 15th and 16th. That didn’t stop the Cardinals from winning the wild card and then the World Series.
The point is this: this is baseball. Bad teams beat good teams. They do it pretty often, actually. Sometimes, they do it twice in a row. It’s not fun to be on this end of it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Two games is a pretty small, inconsequential sample in a 162 game season, though. Even with two straight losses to the Cubs, the Pirates are 2 1/2 back of the Reds and they’re ahead of everyone in the wild card race. If they can find a way to win today, they still go 4-2 on this homestand, which is just fine.
Of course, a win today is not a given. Ryan Dempster, who has now vetoed his deal to the Braves because his feelings were hurt and because he wants to be a Dodger, is starting for the Cubs against Kevin Correia, who’s probably pitching for his rotation life (and probably can’t actually do anything to stay in after Erik Bedard’s dominant start on Monday). That’s not a great matchup for the Pirates, but then, the Pirates have won five of Correia’s last six starts.
First pitch today is at 12:35.
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