The Pirates fell to the Dodgers 9-3 Wednesday night, and Pittsburgh has now lost seven of their last nine games. The pitching is the main culprit, as the team allowed 66 runs in those nine games. The starters own a 6.62 ERA in that time, their biggest problem home runs allowed, nine in 51 2/3 innings. They’ve only walked 15, however.
The starters allowed 66 hits over those innings, and given their strikeout rate, that seems a bit high. Better defense would help. This may just be a slump, as opposed to Pittsburgh falling back to their actual level of play.
The losses have put the Pirates in a tie with St. Louis for the second wild card slot, and just 1/2 game ahead of the Giants. The team needs to turn things around quickly to stay in the race.
You got me lookin’ at their home/road split (7/23 thru last night), and I think you’re right that it’s just a slump. Seems to be a bad slump in home games. They were allowing 2.6 RPG (6/28 – 7/22; 9-1) and now they’re allowing 6.1 RPG (7/23 – 8/15; 3-9). At the same time, their offense in home games have slipped from 6.0 RPG (6/28 – 7/22) to 3.8 RPG (7/23 – 8/15).
The Curse of Wandy Rodriguez?