I haven’t written much about the Pirates, lately. I wanted to, don’t get me wrong, but it’s September in Pittsburgh, and priorities change once summer bleeds into fall.

Bleeds…I suppose that’s an accurate way to describe the Pirates’ plight since the end of July aka the much-anticipated trade deadline. Pittsburgh made a few solid moves (on paper) and immediately went into the tank afterward. August was a disaster and September hasn’t been much better. That obviously wasn’t the plan. I wanted to write about the Pirates a lot as the summer bled into the fall. I wanted to keep penning pieces on their behalf as September bled into Buctober. Sadly, it will be just another October this year for the Pirates and their long-suffering fans.

My last Bucco article before this one touched on a sweep of the Marlins at PNC Park. It wasn’t just a series sweep, it was a season sweep; Pittsburgh took all seven games against the Fish in 2024.

How did the Pirates do after that? They lost two of three at home against the contending Royals last weekend. That was painful to watch, because there may have been more excitement about Pittsburgh than Kansas City coming into the season. However, the Royals spent a lot to fix their roster, while the Bucs did not.

That explains why Kansas City currently sits at 82-71 and has a two-game lead for a wildcard spot.

The Pirates are now 72-81 after a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals on Thursday evening. I won’t get into many details about the game, other than to say Nick Gonzales drove in the winning run with a single in the top of the eighth inning. It was no surprise that Gonzales came through in the clutch. It’s been his thing all year, as he now has 47 RBI in just 86 games. Sadly, the “just 86 games” is the story for Gonzales’s first full season in the Majors. Why? A groin injury suffered in a game against the Diamondbacks on July 28 forced him onto the IL for a month. You add 20 or 30 games to his 2024 campaign, and Gonzales may have had a season that excited more Pirates fans.

The victory salvaged the four-game series at Busch Stadium, as Pittsburgh dropped the first three contests, including a start by rookie pitcher Paul Skenes.

Oh yeah, and the Pirates were officially eliminated from postseason contention during the series at Busch; that is fitting since St. Louis often symbolizes winning and contending, while Pittsburgh does not. The Pirates will now be home for the playoffs for the 29th time since 1992.

Also, Pittsburgh is one defeat away from suffering its sixth straight losing season and 28th out of the last 32.

You can see why I haven’t been writing much about the Buccos as of late. I haven’t even been paying much attention to them, actually. True story, I thought the series in St. Louis was only three games and didn’t even realize that they played on Thursday evening until the game was already in the books.

I will continue to write about the Buccos as much as possible over the final days of their 2024 campaign. But I’m only one man. The NFL is calling me. College football is enticing me with stories. Hell, the Pitt women’s volleyball team is number one in the country.

Don’t misunderstand, though, I wanted to put all those other sports on the back burner in favor of the Pirates this fall, and I really thought I would have to.

Oh well.

There’s always next year, right?