Pirates bats mostly silent in 4-1 loss to Cardinals

The Pittsburgh Pirates were one-hit by the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, with the lone knock a solo home run by Hoy Park in the fourth inning, as the offense continues to no-show in 4-1 defeat to their division rival.

The Bucs have now lost six games in a row and eight out of their last 10, and they’ve scored just six total runs in their last four contests.

Steven Brault had a solid start, going five innings and giving up five hits, but just two runs off of solo shots by Tommy Edman and Paul DeJong. Kyle Keller, Duane Underwood, and Nick Mears finished the game on the mound for Pittsburgh, giving up another two runs, though only one was earned, credited to Keller.

Here is Pittsburgh’s only real highlight of the night:

Something tells me we’re going to have a long last 50 games this season, especially with the team hitting like they’ve been. Anthony Alford batted cleanup tonight, if you want to know how badly the Buccos lack pop. He went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

The Pirates will be back in action again tomorrow night at PNC Park, once again taking on the Cards in the second game of a three-game set. They’ll need to go at least 22-27 over these final 49 games to avoid 100 losses, and I just don’t see how that happens. Signed, sealed, delivered at this point.