WASHINGTON -- The road hasn’t been kind to the Pirates this year. This late-season trip to Baltimore and the nation’s capital will go down as one of the rougher ones.
The Pirates were in every contest, but were able to win only one of their six games, dropping the rubber match to the Nationals at Nationals Park on Sunday, 4-3. Each of those five losses was by one run, which has been a recurring theme this season.
Sunday marked the 33rd time this season the Pirates lost by one run, second behind the Braves for the most in baseball. It’s the most one-run losses they’ve had in a season since 1986, when they fell 37 times by just one tally.
Now 65-85 on the season, the Pirates are likely going to regress from the 76-86 record they posted each of the past two seasons, but given their 24-33 record in one-run games, one almost has to wonder what this year could have been had they done better in those close contests. Change the outcome of a couple swings and they’d at least be in position to improve their record. If they excelled in these tight contests, perhaps they would be in position to go .500 or stick around in the Wild Card chase.
For a team that came into the year knowing it had to win in the margins, that hasn’t happened enough.
“I think it shows that we’re right there,” said Nick Gonzales, who had a triple, two RBIs and scored on a wild pitch in the first. “We’re one swing away with every opponent we play, it’s not just the teams in last place or out of it, it’s with every team that we put up a good fight. I think it’s about finding a way to push through and get those wins. It’s tough losing close ballgames, for sure.”
Sunday was riddled with miscues. After a three-run first inning, the Pirates appeared to be in position to rally again in the second when Ji Hwan Bae drew a walk and appeared to steal second, but he overslid the bag and was caught stealing. In the eighth, Oneil Cruz flubbed a Daylen Lile double for an error, allowing James Wood to score the deciding run. The Pirates were able to put the tying run at third base in the ninth, but Bryan Reynolds struck out to cap a day where the team went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine men on base.
The offense’s woes this year have been well documented and there’s blame to go around, but the season struggles of Cruz and Reynolds have been apparent. Cruz entered Sunday with a .180/.269/.306 slash line since the start of June, and Reynolds’ .708 OPS for the season is nearly 100 points lower than his career average.
Unless he finishes strong, it will be the first time Reynolds has finished a season with a below league average OPS since the shortened 2020 campaign. Cruz’s 38 steals lead the National League and he’s a homer away from a second straight 20-20 season, but even a multi-hit performance Sunday only brought his OPS up to .689.
“They’re two catalysts and we need to get them going, for sure, for us to be able to put up runs,” manager Don Kelly said. “We stacked at-bats together throughout, and it helps. We’ve had stretches of that, but we need to get everybody going.”
That’s not to say that Sunday just fell on the offense. Starter Mike Burrows was quick to point that out. He went 4 1/3 innings, but a three-run second cost the Pirates the lead, which they were not able to recapture.
"I think it really comes down to my inning,” Burrows said. “Four-pitch walk to lead it off just created an uphill battle for myself. Tried to limit damage the best I could. Some baseball stuff happened. It's just unfortunate."
Plenty of discussion in the second half of this season has centered around 2026. There is talent in place and there is an expectation to compete next year.
For that to happen, the Pirates are going to have to find a way to close out more close games.