‘As frustrated as I’ve been’ as Pirates blow 7 run lead in loss

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was going to be a positive end to the series and the homestand. After giving up 27 runs in getting their tails kicked for two games against Chicago, the Bucs were up 10-3 Wednesday afternoon. What came next was one of the epic meltdowns in team history, a 14-10 loss to the Cubs at PNC Park.

That 10-3 lead was in the seventh inning. Four different relievers would give up runs after Paul Skenes gave up two earned runs in five innings, striking out six. The Cubs scored two in the seventh charged to Kyle Nicolas, three in the eighth charged to Aroldis Chapman and six in the ninth, five given up by David Bednar. The last five runs of the game scoring with two outs.

“We have to cover,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “We have a 10-3 lead in the seventh. We have to cover the game.”

“It’s about as frustrated as I’ve been. We have got to execute. You cannot have a 10-3 game in the seventh inning and give up 11 runs.”

Shelton said it was too fresh to discuss what they will do with Bednar. The two-time, All-Star closer is 0-4 with a 10.97 ERA in August with a .347 batting average against and an almost unbelievable 2.34 WHIP. But it’s more than just him, other pitchers have struggled, critical errors, offensively-leaving runners on base or just not making contact.

“My concern level is we have to finish games,” Shelton said when asked about the team big picture. “Look at the games we’ve lost in August, it’s because we have not finished games. How many of these games have we had the lead? How many of these games have we been one strike away, one pitch away.”

“It’s not complacency, it’s execution.”

The Bucs have lost 26 one-run games, which would speak to execution. It is the fifth time just this month that the team lost a late lead.

August 2
·     up 7-6 in the 7th inning, lost 9-8 (Arizona)

August 4
·     up 4-2 in the 7th, lost 6-5 (Arizona)

August 7
·     led 6-5 in 9th, lost 9-8 in 10 (San Diego)

August 11
·     led 5-4 in 10th at Los Angeles, lost 6-5

Skenes said there is not a whole lot to say after something like that. He and Pirates INF/OF Connor Joe said you have to stick together as teammates and play for each other. They need to stop putting pressure themselves and just compete pitch-to-pitch.

This team went into the All-Star Break winning four straight and proceeded to win series over the Phillies and Cardinals. Since that point, not only have they fallen out of the playoff race, but .500 is a long shot. The Pirates are 7-17 in August having given up 136 runs, 41 in this series against the Cubs.

No one is blameless, but more so than assigning blame, what is the future? Optimists will show you the stat of the Pirates going 11-17 in August, 7-21 in September in 2012 and making the playoffs the next season.

It’s been said there are pieces to a post-season roster on this team right now. What will those pieces do to finish the season and how will the team fix or replace the pieces that don’t fit.

That is where this franchise’s future lies.