These Pirates are elite — under one circumstance

SAN FRANCISCO -- What if I told you these 2019 Pirates are actually really, really good? Like, best-in-the-National-League good?

It's true ... as long as their opponent is bad — like these Giants, who are now 70-76 after losing to the Pirates, 6-3, Wednesday night at Oracle Park.

So let's have a little fun with numbers.

Against teams with a losing record (on the year, not at the time they played) the Pirates are 37-16, a .698 winning percentage that ranks No. 1 in the National League and sixth across MLB.

Have a look for yourself:

MIN2019805921.738213536323.716NYY2019735221.712127446319.649HOU2019856025.706172524352.674LAD2019745222.703169435266.711CLE2019916328.692137449312.661PIT2019523616.6927…