Pirates open series with Nationals
The Pirates are looking at a 7陆-game deficit in the National League Central as the second half of the season gets set to begin.
That is quite substantial.
Yet considering the hole the Pirates found themselves in less than a month ago, the deficit no longer seems daunting. The Pirates dropped 15 games behind the division-leading Cubs on June 19 with a 10-5 loss at Chicago.
The Pirates have halved that deficit, thanks to winning 11 of their last 13 games before the All-Star break. They return from a four-day respite Friday night to face the NL East-leading Nationals at Washington in the opener of a three-game series.
鈥淚 really can鈥檛 believe we lost as many games as we did in the first half. It stunned me,鈥� Pirates closer Mark Melancon said. 鈥淚 knew we were much better than that and we鈥檙e showing it now. We鈥檙e still 7陆 games back but, with the way we鈥檙e playing now, I really feel like we can make that deficit up in a hurry.鈥�
The Pirates are in third place in the division with their 46-43 record. The Cardinals (46-42) are second, seven games behind the Cubs (53-35).
鈥淓verything is starting to come together now,鈥� Pirates left fielder Starling Marte said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing the little things that helped us win a lot of ball games the last three years. Everybody is relaxed, not trying to do too much. We鈥檙e playing with confidence.鈥�
Though the Pirates would prefer to avoid playing in the winner-take-all NL wild card for a fourth straight year, it would be another avenue into the postseason. They are 1陆 games out of the second wild card spot.
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle cautions that it is still a little too early to get caught up in looking at the standings. He credits his team蘑菇视频 steady approach as one of the primary reasons they are still in contention despite a sometimes rocky first half that included a horrible June in which the Pirates went 9-19.
鈥淚 think we keep things in the right place,鈥� Hurdle said. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 walking away with our head down and feeling sorry for ourselves after getting beat through June. We鈥檙e not going to do backflips now. We鈥檙e going to keep playing. The goal is to meet the demands of the game and play baseball at a very high level. Just take care of things one day at a time.鈥�