The Pittsburgh Pirates currently find themselves in a bit of a funk. At the All Star Break, the Bucs were flying high at 53-35 and just 2.5 game back of St. Louis in the NL Central. But, after getting swept by the Brewers in Millawkue and dropping 2 out of 3 against the Royals in Kansas City, things aren't looking as bright as they were just a short while ago. Injuries have also began to pile up, as Jordy Mercer injured his knee on Sunday in Millawkue and will be out at least 6 weeks, making things even more challenging for the Bucs infield, as earlier this month Josh Harrison was put out of action for 7 weeks with a broken thumb. Many Pirate fans are frustrated with this stretch, but how do I feel about it? Well, we will find out at the end of this article.
First, here is a brief recap of the 3 games that took place in Kansas City. On Monday, the Pirates grinded out a wild 10-7 win. Starling Marte and Travis Ishikawa each went 3 for 5, with Ishikawa driving in 4 runs. Gregory Polanco, Andrew McCutchen, Jung Ho-Kang and Pedro Alveraz contributed 2 hits each, as the Pirates had 17 knocks in total, picking up AJ Burnett who had a weak outing, allowing 6 earned runs over 6 innings of work, but getting the win anyway to improve his impressive record to 8-3, while Mark Melancon picked up his 30th save of the season.
Tuesday night was not as kind to the Pirates. Despite a usual stellar outing from Gerrit Cole, the Bucs offense could not get going the whole night. Things fell apart in the bottom of the 8th, when 3 straight defensive miscues from Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco all in succession, put a nail in the Pirates coffin for the night, and KC walked away with a 3-1 win. Cole took the loss, falling to 13-4 on the year.
Last nights game was probably the least interesting of the 3. Charlie Morton pitched well, but imploded in the 7th, allowing 4 runs, and KC again got it done, this time by a score of 5-1. Morton fell to 6-4 on the year.
So am I worried? Ehh... not really. The reason I say ''not really'' instead of ''no'' is that the injury bug is hitting this team hard, and hopefully Francisco Cervelli's wrist problem is not too serious. But the Bucs made a smart baseball move today, getting former Pirate Aramis Rameriz from the Brewers and giving up next to nothing in return. Rameriz is 37 and not the player he once was, but he still has the ability to drive a ball a long way and I would certainly rather have him at 3rd base than Brent Morell. Bad stretches will happen over a 162 game season, and all it takes is a few wins to get things rolling again.
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