Pittsburgh Pirates Wildcard Watch – Gut Punching and Heartbreaking

In our Pittsburgh Pirates Wild Card Watch, we give you a semi-daily primer as the Pirates chase down a 2016 playoff spot.

Yesterday the Pittsburgh Pirates lost their ninth straight game and this one was absolutely heartbreaking. The Pirates fell behind early, battled back to take the lead into the ninth inning before Tony Watson blew the save. 2016 has been full of inconsistent play and there have been a handful of bad losses but this one takes the cake. The Pirates had a great chance to end their losing streak and maybe get some momentum in the wildcard race, instead, it’s more dirt on the casket that is the Pirates 2016 playoff chances.

First, let’s take a peek at the NL Wild Card standings:

St. Louis Cardinals (73-64)

The St. Louis Cardinals were obviously the Pirates’ opponent yesterday and pretty much played the role of gravedigger as they very nearly put the deathblow on the 2016 Pirates. They currently hold the second wildcard spot but are only half a game behind the San Francisco Giants for the top wildcard spot. They very well could be hosting the 2016 NL Wildcard Game come October 5th.

The Cardinals will look to complete the sweep of the Pirates today when Mike Leake makes his return from the DL and will take on Jameson Taillon at 7:05pm.

Cardinals add Sam Tuivailala, Mike Mayers, and Jose Martinez to expand their roster.

Injury Update: Aledmys Diaz Nearing Return

New York Mets (73-66)

The New York Mets have won four consecutive games and are currently surging into a near-tie with the St. Louis Cardinals for the second wildcard spot. The Mets are doing their best to get back to the playoffs where they look to defend their 2015 National League Pennant. The Mets have basically pulled a reverse-Pirates as they have gotten really hot to start September. If this trend continues, they could be the most dangerous team in the NL Playoff picture. Is it 2015 again?

The starting pitcher trade options Mets could (briefly) turn to

Call to the Pen asks: Is Jay Bruce unhappy with the Mets?

Miami Marlins (68-71)

Much like the Pirates, the Miami Marlins are fading fast. They have lost five in a row and seven of their past eight games. It’s difficult to call the Marlins or Pirates wildcard contenders at this point. They are both limping to the finish line big time. If we were being honest about writing about Wildcard contenders, we’d probably only write about the Mets, Cardinals and whoever doesn’t win the National League West.

Marlins activate slugger Justin Bour (ankle) from 60-day DL

Giancarlo Stanton makes surprise return to Marlins on Tuesday

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