At some point, actual victories in the win column are going to have to outweigh the baby steps made by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
That simply has not been the case over the past two games, as the Pirates have dropped two straight to the Detroit Tigers, surrendering 28 runs in the process. While many bright spots have arose, the losses have been another example of the long rebuild that Pittsburgh is due for.
First, look at Friday night. The Pirates go up 4-1 thanks to four RBIs via a two-run single and a two-run homerun from, of all people, Erik Gonzalez, who would finish the 11-inning 17-13 defeat going 4-for-5 with six runs batted in.
They blow that lead and allow the Tigers to take a 5-4 lead, only to get it right back thanks to the first career homerun, a three-run bomb into the bullpen, from rising star Phillip Evans.
Like many nights, however, the Pirates' bullpen imploded, and the score quickly shifted from a 7-5 Pittsburgh edge to a 12-7 Detroit lead. Once again, the Pirates fought back.
After two eighth inning runs, the Pirates entered the ninth down 12-9. Arguably their two best power hitters, Josh Bell and Colin Moran, both looked very unimpressive with back-to-back strikeouts.
Bryan Reynolds came up and put together a crisp at-bat, that lead to a two-strike single. He took second base uncontested and was brought in on an RBI single by Phillip Evans, who drove Reynolds in with two strikes. Then, Adam Frazier blasted a game-tying homerun with, you guessed it, two strikes to tie the score at 12-12.
Detroit took a 13-12 lead in the 10th, but the Pirates battled right back on a Cole Tucker sacrifice fly to tie it at 13-13. The Tigers eventually pulled away and won 17-13, but the resiliency was nonetheless impressive.
The Tigers came out today and blasted Pirates starter Derek Holland, as they hit four homeruns in the first five at-bats of the afternoon to take a 5-0 lead, eventually adding an additional sixth run in the second inning.
The Pirates would battle back to trim the lead to 6-5 against former Pittsburgh starter Ivan Nova, but Detroit eventually padded onto their lead en route to an 11-5 victory.
In the loss, Phillip Evans was injured in a collision with Gregory Polanco and will likely miss some time. In a bright spot, Nick Mears made his MLB debut, striking out two batters in an inning of relief.
Pittsburgh, by fair assessment, deserves a free pass this year. The previous regime left absolutely minimal assets for the franchise going forward, and the Williams/Cherington/Shelton trio absolutely deserve some time to evaluate the talent that does exist.
If this type of resiliency is on display going forward and becomes emblematic of who Derek Shelton is as a manager and how he interacts with his players, then sign me up. But eventually, the wins have got to start coming.
As for the Pirates' upcoming series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, where they lost two of three games just two weeks ago, there is much uncertainty.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Monday's game will be postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak that has sidelined the Cardinals since July 29. Per Passan, the Pirates have already cancelled their flight into St. Louis.
The Pirates (3-12) will get a crack to get back into the win column when they host the Tigers (7-5) on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park.
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