Eight Straight Losses for the Pirates and Everyone’s to Blame

Written by: Pat Lackey on 12th May 2009

Eight Straight Losses for the Pirates and Everyone's to Blame | read this item

After a surprisingly mediocre (hey, we take what we can get in Pittsburgh) start, the Pirates have lost eight straight games and twelve out of their last thirteen. Trying to pin down blame for an epic losing streak like this isn’t terribly easy, because mostly everyone’s involved. The offense has only scored 21 runs in the eight games, and a little more than three runs a game isn’t going to cut it. But the biggest problem in this eight-game streak hasn’t been the Pirates’ offense. It’s the bullpen. Let’s look at each of the eight games in this losing streak, the score when the started exited the game, and the final score.

May 3- Jeff Karstens leaves after 5 innings with the Reds up 5-0. Final score: Reds 5 Pirates 0.
May 4- Paul Maholm leaves after 7 1/3 innings with one runner on base and the Pirates up 3-1. Final score: Brewers 7 Pirates 4.
May 5- Ian Snell leaves after 5+ innings with runners on first and second and the Brewers up 3-2. Final score: Brewers 8 Pirates 5.
May 6- Zach Duke leaves after 5 1/3 innings with the bases loaded and the Cardinals up 4-2. Final score: Cardinals 4 Pirates 2.
May 7- Ross Ohlendorf leaves after 6 innings with the Cardinals up 5-2. Final score: Cardinals 5 Pirates 2.
May 8- Jeff Karstens leaves after 6 innings with the Pirates and Mets tied at 2. Final score: Mets 7 Pirates 3.
May 9- Paul Maholm leaves after 5 innings with the Pirates down 7-1. Final score: Mets 10 Pirates 1.
May 10- Ian Snell leaves after 6 innings with the Mets up 3-2. Final score: Mets 8 Pirates 4.

Sure, the starters have been rough, but in four of the eight games, the bullpen has taken a close game or a Pirate lead and turned it into an insurmountable deficit. Tyler Yates and John Grabow have been the chief culprits, but Evan Meek, Jesse Chavez, and Matt Capps have contributed as well.

So the offense is scoring three runs a night, the starting pitching is decent at best, and the bullpen is giving up a significant amount of runs every other night. This losing streak might not end at eight.

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Topics: Evan Meek, Ian Snell, Jeff Karstens, john grabow, matt capps, Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Tyler Yates, Zach Duke