The Pirates are no longer in the race for the National League Central Division title. Their fleeting hopes were officially crushed right about the time Manny Pina hit the Brewers’ fifth home run against them Wednesday in a 7-6 loss.
Entering Thursday, they are 5½ games behind the first-place Cubs, and they need to go 28-14 in their final 42 games just to get to 86 wins. And that probably still isn’t enough to win the division.
That season-saving winning streak isn’t coming. It wasn’t ever going to come, either.
This team was never a contender, and that is the fault of the people who put it together.