Pirates on brink of 14th losing season after blowout
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Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
Pirates starting pitcher Shawn Chacon squats as the Astros' Lance Berkman rounds the bases after Berkman hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning yesterday at PNC Park.
It had been clear as far back as the third week of April that this day would come.
And, finally, here it is: Tonight, the Pirates could clinch a 14th consecutive losing season.
A 13-1 thrashing by the Houston Astros yesterday at PNC Park, a nondescript defeat in a summer dripping with them, dropped their overall record to 50-81 and reduced their tragic number to one with the clinching 82nd loss possible tonight against the visiting Chicago Cubs.
Same old Pirates?
It would seem they are in no position to argue the point.
"It's hard to say things are different when we're not producing, when we have another losing season," third baseman Freddy Sanchez said. "You can talk all you want but, until you prove it on the field, it's the same old thing."
Of course, there is that modestly upgraded 20-21 record since the All-Star break. And there is that core of young talent -- Sanchez and Jason Bay among them -- who can remain the Pirates' property for the next handful of years.
But similar refrains have been heard in other seasons, too, and there is no guarantee this group will be different.
"I don't know about all the teams from the past, but I know what I like about this team is that we're going to have pretty much everybody back," Sanchez said. "This whole group has had a year to grow together, to get confidence."
"This will be my fifth losing season, so I know all about it," reliever Salomon Torres said. "But you know what? I'm very optimistic about what we're getting done here. Look at this team. There's been a major improvement over the past two months."
He paused.
"I know it's hard. I know it's been dark for the Pittsburgh Pirates' fans. But they should be happy with what we're building here. They should believe. Speaking for myself, I know things are getting better. I refuse to believe otherwise."
To place the magnitude of the streak in perspective:
It will tie for the third-longest string of losing seasons in Major League Baseball history. The Philadelphia Phillies set the standard at 16 from 1933-48. The Pirates will be the sixth team to lose 14 or more years in a row.
It is the longest active stretch in the four major professional sports. The NBA's Golden State Warriors have had 12 in a row, the NFL's Arizona Cardinals seven and the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets five.
It will extend the longest drought in the franchise's 120-year history. The previous high was nine from 1949-57, the infamous era of the Rickey Dinks.
This one seemed over not long after the first at-bat.
Willy Taveras immediately extended his 30-game hitting streak with a single off Shawn Chacon, then came around for the first of Lance Berkman's four RBIs.
Houston added three in the third on Mike Lamb's RBI double and Berkman's two-run rocket through Sanchez at short. Sanchez was charged with a tough error, or Berkman would have had two more RBIs.
The Astros poured it on from there, batting around in each of the fifth and sixth innings for a 12-1 lead. That includes Berkman's three-run home run in the fifth, one in which he crushed an 0-2 curveball from Chacon into the top row of seats above right field.
Chacon was tagged with seven runs -- five earned -- on six hits and four walks. He has yet to top five innings in four starts since the Pirates acquired him from the New York Yankees July 31 for Craig Wilson.
"He was having difficulty throwing strikes early in the count," manager Jim Tracy said. "And he was having difficulty with Berkman, which a lot of people do."
Britt Reames fared no better in relieving Chacon, retiring only five of 13 batters in giving up five runs over 1 2/3 innings.
The offense was a dud, too, mustering a run and five hits in seven innings off Jason Hirsh, Houston's rookie starter who was rocked for 10 runs Tuesday in Cincinnati.
Twice, the Pirates left the bases loaded. In the fourth, Jose Castillo inexplicably swung at the first pitch just after a four-pitch walk to free swinger Ryan Doumit. He dribbled an inning-ending groundout. In the fifth, Bay -- hitless in his past 12 at-bats -- and Jeromy Burnitz each popped out.
"It was just obviously not a good day," Tracy said. "We didn't pitch well. We had two genuine opportunities offensively, and that didn't work out, either. You've just got to let this one go."
The lone bright spot, as has so often been the case, was Sanchez going 2 for 4 to raise his National League-leading average to .346.
Matchup: Cubs (Angel Guzman 0-3) vs. Pirates (Ian Snell 11-8), 7:05 p.m.
Where: PNC Park.
TV/radio: FSN Pittsburgh/KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network.
Pirates Notebook: Littlefield confident 2007 payroll will be 'plenty'
How Freddy Sanchez stands in his bid to become the first Pirates player to win the National League batting title since Bill Madlock in 1983.
LAST GAME Yesterday: 2 for 4 vs. Astros
LEADERS
NEXT GAME Today: 7:05 p.m. vs. Cubs. Pitcher: Angel Guzman. Sanchez is 2 for 3 lifetime vs. Guzman.
Only seven Major League Baseball teams have been losing as long as the current Pirates, who will clinch a 14th consecutive losing season with their next defeat:
StreakTeamYears16Philadelphia Phillies1933-4815Boston Red Sox1919-3315Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics1953-6714Seattle Mariners1977-9014Philadelphia Phillies1918-3113Philadelphia Athletics1934-4613Pirates1993-First Published August 28, 2006 12:00 am
