I am back Pirates still losing (13-25)

I am back from a little trip, and while the Pirates did take a series, overall they lost ground.

Tonight was forgettable. However, it illustrates a point that needs to be made about the future of the Pirates. McCutchen was 2 for 4. Tabata was 3 for 4. Walker was 1 for 3 with a walk. The only disappointment in the future of the Pirates was Alvarez who was 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. Even pitcher Daniel McCutchen was not awful going 5.2 and allowing 4 runs. Those three top of the order guys are all hitting over .290. Add in Jones and Milledge at .270 and the team looks like it ought to be good. Just a hole at short and a hole at catcher make the team average look real bad. But Jones and Milledge are having lower than expected power years, which hurts everyone. Like today, the starting three got lots of hits, but Jones left 5 guys on base. The lone run the Pirates scored was by a Jeff Clement pinch hit homer.

On a real down note the Pirates bullpen was bad. Ledezma and Jackson were sub-par. In fact Ledezma was awful giving up 5 runs and recording only one out. Gallagher gave up two hits, but nothing hurt his final line. The two hits still made his outing look bad. I hope this is not the beginning of a post trading deadline slump like last year.