The Pirates went into the eighth inning with the lead in every game against the Cardinals this weekend. They still lost the series.
That includes a ninth inning collapse from Chase De Jong at PNC Park Sunday, allowing a pair of late home runs to blow the save and lose, 4-3.
If some of these losses feel like they're meshing together, well, it's probably because they are. That's the 88th defeat on the season for the Pirates, who need to either play above .500 baseball down the stretch or finish with a second consecutive 100-loss season, something that hasn't been done in the franchise's history since 1952-54.