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Pirates struggling for wins
The Pittsburgh Pirates have been struggling for wins lately. After a seven-game winning streak earlier in the season, the Pirates have now lost seven straight games, bringing their record to 20-15. This is their seventh straight loss, and the only redeeming thing about it is that they are still over .500.
The Pirates lost to Toronto in embarrassing fashion 10-1. They managed only one run on eight hits and had one error. The bats have been silent and the starting pitching has been struggling. Contreras pitched five innings and gave up five earned runs on nine hits with three walks and four strikeouts. This lack of command is concerning. The middle bullpen did a good job, with Moretta and Hernandez shutting them down for two innings, but DeJong just blew up and the Blue Jays scored 5 runs with 2 home runs in the last 2 innings. Come on.
The Pirates have been unable to be as aggressive on the base paths due to their lack of offense. Tampa Bay and Toronto have taken it to them and now they face Colorado, who have a 14-21 record. Mitch Keller has been the one real bright spot in the pitching, but it remains to be seen if he can put a stop to the Pirates' struggles.
The Pirates have a two-game set in Detroit before they come back home, Detroit is not having a great year. It is very possible that the Pirates will lose three straight in Baltimore. It is unclear if the Pirates can get four wins over the next eight games.
The only thing that the Pirates can do is keep fighting and hope that their luck changes. If they want to get back on track, they will need to get their bats going and their starting pitchers to show more command. It is going to be a tough road ahead for the Pirates, but if they can stay focused and work together, they might be able to turn things around.
