It seems only yesterday I was writing about the time the Pirates pitching staff allowed a combined five runs in a three-game series in Texas but lost two of those three games.

OK, it wasn’t yesterday, but it was last week. 

The constant thing about a struggling franchise (organization–this stuff is systemic, at this point) is that its problems are great, and to quote the late, great Chuck Noll, “There are many.”

This brings us to the just-concluded three-game affair against the Cubs at PNC Park that was supposed to pull the Buccos out of the basement of the National League Central Division. Pittsburgh had just taken three of four from the fourth-place Reds with the highlight coming on Sunday afternoon when Yasmani Grandal smacked a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to clinch the series win.

Chicago came into the three-game set with a 65-66 record, while the Bucs were 62-68 after Grandal’s heroics. Take two of three or, heck, even sweep, and things could get pretty interesting…at least in terms of where these two teams could possibly finish in the divisional hierarchy when all was said and done.

I mean, let’s face it, the Pirates lost 10 games in a row and 15 of 19 before the Cincinnati series. Their season was pretty much finished in terms of being in contention. Thankfully, though, that 10-game losing streak was rock bottom, right?

Wrong!

To paraphrase Rachel from Friends, “There’s rock bottom, 50 feet of crap, then the 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates.”

The Pirates found themselves under a new layer of crap this week when they scored a total of 23 runs vs. the Cubs but got swept right out of PNC Park. The lowlight of the series–the worst for last–occurred on Wednesday afternoon when the Buccos blew a 10-3 lead they had built behind the arm of rookie pitching phenom, Paul Skenes.

Skenes left after five innings with said seven-run lead and eventually headed to his hotel, apartment or girlfriend Livvy Dunne’s place with a no-decision.

The bullpen again imploded by allowing 11 runs over the final three frames in a 14-10 loss reminiscent of the 1989 edition that blew a 10-0 first-inning lead against the Phillies at old Veterans Stadium. David Bednar finished the job by giving up five of those runs in the top of the ninth inning. Bednar took the loss and now has a 3-7 record with a 6.32 ERA. I think he may have 23 saves, but it doesn’t matter how many saves he has since his 2024 campaign will be defined by the six he has blown (it feels like more and likely will be when all is said and done).

The Pirates were swept despite their run-total because they allowed 41 runs over the three games. The truly tragic pill to swallow from this series is that in addition to Skenes taking the mound in the finale, Mitch Keller was the losing pitcher in Monday’s 18-8 shellacking, while Jared Jones, returning from a long absence due to injury, was knocked around on Tuesday night in a 9-5 defeat.

The Pirates are building their present and future around these three starting pitchers, so what does this just-concluded series mean?

Yes, Skenes still looked decent in his five innings, but not as dominant as usual. As for the other two? I guess we can chalk their performances up to just having bad days.

At any rate, to quote Austin Powers in The Spy Who Shagged Me,” at least it can’t get any worse…

Of course, Austin said that just before his sweetheart, Felicy, shagged Fat Bastard.

The final question is this: Did the evil Chicago Cubs just steal the Pirates’ mojo for the rest of the 2024 campaign?