The Pirates are finding the juggernauts of the AL East a bit more than they can handle. Having amassed four runs in three games against the Rays and Manny Gonzalez, they returned home to face Toronto and got shut out, 4-0. The loss was their fifth straight.
The Pirates had only four hits and four walks, but this time they made sure they didn’t strand them all. Having torpedoed themselves with inept defense in St. Petersburg, in PNC Park the Bucs turned to TOOTBLANery. Ji-Hwan Bae led off the bottom of the first with a walk and stole second, but was caught stealing third.