With Wednesday’s 8-2 loss to the San Diego Padres, the Pittsburgh Pirates officially recorded their third double-digit losing streak in the last four years.

When they embarked on what would prove to be a disastrous trip west last week, the Pirates were still squarely in the playoff race — just two games under .500 and 4.5 games out of a National League wild card spot, to be exact. Now they’re eight games under .500 and eight games out of the final wild card spot, and their playoff hopes have all but evaporated.

Of the 120 games the Pirates have played so far this season, more than a third (43) have been decided by one point, more than any other team in MLB. Pittsburgh has a 19-24 record in those one-point games, ranking 24th in the league.

And here’s the kicker: Half of the Pirates’ losses during this current 10-game losing streak have been one-run losses. That somehow feels even worse than losing to the Padres by six runs (which has now happened to them twice in as many weeks, if you can say that). Any game decided by one run is winnable, and the Pirates have played like a team that doesn’t want to win.

The most obvious culprit for the Pirates’ shocking number of one-run losses is, of course, their bullpen. David Bednar has now blown five saves, including two in a row in Pittsburgh’s last home series against the Padres. Before going on the 15-day injured list, Colin Holderman had suffered four losses in his last five games. In total, the Pirates’ pitching staff has allowed six or more runs in seven of the losses during this 10-game losing streak, and has allowed a total of 14 home runs in all 10 games.

But it’s not just the pitching that’s to blame. In their last series in San Diego, the Pirates had seven hits or more in every game, but were only able to score three runs in the three games.

You can blame the Pirates’ disastrous fall from grace on the players, the coaches, or even management — and honestly, all three bear a small share of the blame — but ownership is nowhere near the blame. Bob Nutting never expanded the team’s payroll enough or hired the right people to create a competitive culture, so the results can’t really surprise us.

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