PITTSBURGH – The 2024 regular season is in the home stretch, and given what happened to the Pittsburgh Pirates this month, they could easily pull off a season win.
A few weeks ago, the Pirates were still in the midst of the postseason, but after a grueling 10-game losing streak, Pittsburgh is at the bottom of the National League wild card race.
But the Pirates aren’t giving up. With a win that ended their long losing streak, the Bucs have won five of their last eight games. Their most recent victory came Friday night in a dramatic comeback against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park. The Pirates overcame a five-point deficit and battled back with a 6-5 victory over their division rivals.
“Stagnating is not our thing, not our category,” Pirates starting pitcher Bailey Falter said Friday. “We always fight, no matter what. Every pitch, every at-bat. We’re just trying to finish the year strong, and I think we’re doing a pretty good job of doing that right now.”
The Pirates’ chances of making the playoffs are microscopic. That might even be generous. But they still show fighting spirit, the same fighting spirit that got the Pirates into the playoffs for the first time in a long time so late in the season.
Half of the Pirates’ losses during their 10-game losing streak were by a single point. Finally, the Pirates emerged victorious in a game by just one point, once again showing fighting spirit despite the fact that they could have easily come up short.
“I’m really happy about it,” said manager Derek Shelton about the narrow victory. “We lost too many of them. But it was good. They kept fighting… I think it was important that we kept going.”
How much does the fighting spirit the team is showing after the destructive stretch mean in the bigger picture this year? Maybe not much. Either way, the Pirates’ chances of making the playoffs aren’t going to increase dramatically because of the grit they’ve shown recently.
But to their credit, the 26 guys on the roster are still fighting like they’re on the verge of a playoff spot. That’s easier said than done.
“As a group, we have what it takes,” said Bryan De La Cruz, who contributed two RBIs to the win. “We play as a group and do the right things we need to do to win games.”
Santana’s first victory
When the Pirates signed Dennis Santana off waivers from the New York Yankees in June, there was little fanfare. Santana had been designated for transfer a few days earlier and had a career ERA of 5.39 at the time.
But Ben Cherington and the Pirates front office saw something they liked, and the right-hander developed into a key player in the bullpen.
In 23 games since joining the Pirates, Santana has a 3.67 ERA. He suffered a six-run debacle at Coors Field on June 15, but has posted an impeccable 1.93 ERA in 20 appearances since then.
On Friday, he earned his first win with the Pirates after pitching two scoreless innings.
“Dennis did a good job,” Shelton said after the win. “I think it’s one of those things, it’s a credit to the organization. You identify a player, you get him and then you put him in your pitching group and you mix up his performances and now we’ve seen his slider get better and the fastball get up to seven and eight at times and that’s just a good organizational effort on our part.”
The Pirates’ bullpen has been inconsistent for much of this season, but Santana has been a reliable presence for most of his tenure in black and gold.
David Bednar has been no exception to the inconsistency in the bullpen this season, but on Friday he made his 23rd save of the season. Bednar, too, was quite impressed with what Santana has shown.
“He was great. Absolutely electric,” said the Pirates’ two-time closer. “Great guy and a lot of fun to watch pitch and work. As you saw today, just nasty stuff. Getting ahead of guys and getting outs quickly. It was really impressive and to watch him do it is really great.”
