Entering play on Thursday night the Pittsburgh Pirates had been playing some of their strongest baseball of the season. In their last 10 series played the Pirates are 6-2-2 and they entered Thursday night 15-15 in their last 30 games played.
Early on the Pittsburgh Pirates appeared to be well on their way to kicking off their four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies with a victory that would have put the team over .500 in their last 31 games played. However, despite jumping out to an early 6-0 lead the team’s pitching imploded on their way to a 12-6 loss.