Way of the K

The Mets came into the series on Friday as the best record in the NL, and a magic number of 1 to clinch their first division title since 1986. The Pirates won on Friday and Saturday, combined with Phillies wins, to keep the Mets still unclinched going into today’s game. The Pirates would not be denied, winning 3-0 and being the first NL team to sweep the Mets this year. It marked win #63 on the season, the win that keeps them from losing 100 on the season – a mark that seemed almost certain back at the All-Star break.

Now, they are not even last in their division, now 2 games up on the Cubs and 4.5 behind the Brewers. At 63-87, it is still possible, however unlikely, that they could go 10-2 in their last 12 to avoid losing 90. Based on their up and down streakiness, this is not likely, but they still have it to fight out for Freddy Sanchez’s attempt to win the NL Batting title. He went 2 for 3 on Sunday with 2 RBI to rise back to .341 average, while his closest chaser, Florida Marlin’s Miguel Cabrera, went 2 for 5, to retain a .340 average. Sanchez once led by a wide margin a month ago, but it will be a tight race to the end. The Marlins play 4 vs the Mets, 3 vs the Philles, 3 vs the Reds, and another 3 vs the Phillies to close out the season. Tough schedule. The Pirates isn’t much easier, going to LA and SD for 3 each, then home for 3 each vs Houston and Cincinnati. Not a cake walk either. (And not very likely for the Pirates to go 10-2 versus that schedule)

At least there is something to watch in September this year, something to root for. It’s been 9 years since the last sniff of the division, when they were in the race with Houston coming into the final series of the year, despite being barely below .500.

The Buccos managed a third win in a row, now with a record of 50-78 with 34 games remaining. They must go 13-21 over the rest of the season to avoid losing 100 games. Their win percentage on the season of .391 extrapolated for the rest of the season would mean 13.28 games won out of 34, or just enough to avoid losing 100.

Freddy Sanchez went 1 for 4, and still leads the NL with an average of .346.

Streaky as anything, the Pirates extended another tonight in a 4-2 win over the Brewers. This marked the 4th win in a row, building upon a sweep of Division leader St Louis over the weekend. Before the streak, the Pirates had lost 5 in a row, which had followed close on the heels of another 5 game winning streak.

They are now 16-13 since the All-Star break, and 46-73 overall. They must go 17-26 in the remaining games to avoid losing 100 games. If they can keep up their post-all star pace, they should be ok in this department.

The other thing left to root for is Freddy Sanchez in the NL batting title race. As of Sunday night, Sanchez was batting .346, with 2nd place at .339. Sanchez went 6 for 13 in the St Louis series. Sanchez went 1 for 3 on Monday, slightly lowering the average to .345 with 43 games to go.

The Pirates season is a tale of two cities. One is Pittsburgh, where they own a 32-28 record at home. The other is anywhere but Pittsburgh, where they are 14-45.