The Pirates lost to the Phillies by a score of 6-0 on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park. By escaping Pittsburgh with a victory, Philadelphia avoided a sweep and salvaged the final game of the weekend series.

If you had told Pirates fans before the weekend series that Pittsburgh would take two of three from the team with the best record in baseball, they would have signed their name in blood.

Yay!

“We won the series, that’s all that matters,” is what my brother says to me whenever the Pirates fail to complete a sweep, especially against a very good team. In fact, he said exactly that when he called me on the evening of June 6 to excitedly inform me that Oneil Cruz had just hit a massive home run into the Allegheny River in the third game of a three-game match against the mighty Dodgers. I said, “That’s great, but they’re still down big.” My brother then said, “Yeah, but they won the series, and that’s all that matters.”

My brother basically said the same thing a week earlier when the Braves salvaged the third and final game of a series at PNC Park. It’s weird that he felt that way since he was tickled pink when Pittsburgh returned the favor and salvaged the final game of a three-game weekend series in Atlanta on June 30.

If winning a series is all that matters, why didn’t it matter that Pittsburgh only won one of three games against the Braves at Truist Field?

It’s because every game matters. I can wrap my head around the goal of winning a series, but that kind of thing should only be celebrated if you take the rubber match. If you lose the final game, well, that still counts in the standings.

This mentality drove me nuts during Pittsburgh’s three-year run of contention from 2013-2015. Those Buccos were very vocal about their desire to win every series, and even after they failed to finish off a sweep, they’d say things like, “We took the series, and that was our goal coming in.” They’d also say, “We won the series, and that’s really all that matters.” (In case you were wondering where my brother got that rhetoric from.)

The 2013 Pirates won 94 games but finished three back of the Cardinals in the National League Central Division. Sure, Pittsburgh clinched the fourth seed and defeated the Reds in the National League Wildcard Game at PNC Park. Unfortunately, Francisco Liriano, the Bucs’ best starter that year and someone who dominated the Cardinals during the regular season, had to pitch that game. As a result, Liriano only faced St. Louis once in the National League Divisional Series. The Pirates lost that series three games to two. Would things have been different had Liriano started more than one game in the series? Possibly.

The 2014 Pirates won 88 games and finished two back of the Cardinals in the National League Central Division. Sure, they clinched the fourth seed but were shut out by Madison Bumgarner and the Giants in the National League Wildcard Game at PNC Park. Bumgarner was the best pitcher on the planet heading into the postseason. Would things have been different had Pittsburgh won the division and got to play a best-of-five series? Possibly.

The 2015 Pirates won 98 games and finished two back of the Cardinals in the National League Central Division. Sure, they clinched the fourth seed but were shut out by Jake Arrieta and the Cubs in the National League Wildcard Game at PNC Park. Arrieta was the best pitcher on the planet….you get the drift.

A few more wins over the course of any of those three seasons could have made a huge difference in terms of the Pirates’ postseason aspirations.

The Pirates are 50-49 after Sunday’s loss, just one-half game behind the Mets for the third wildcard spot in the National League. That’s exciting, and it looks like the race will be close until the bitter end.

What if Pittsburgh narrowly misses the postseason by a game or two?

All wins count in baseball, so it doesn’t hurt to finish off a sweep when the opportunity is there. Sure, that’s easier said than done–especially against good teams–but it could be the difference between winning the division and being a wildcard.

Or in the case of the 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates, it could be the difference between making the playoffs and watching them from home.