PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates would not seem to have a realistic shot at the postseason.
They sit 9 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central, and they are 7 1/2 games behind the Colorado Rockies in the chase for the second NL wild card.
However, the past few days, the Pirates (67-73) gave the Cubs (76-63) a taste of the kind of tough games that Chicago might expect in the playoffs.
The Cubs won a 1-0 pitchers' duel Wednesday after dropping the first two games of a series at PNC Park 12-0 and 4-3.