General manager Neal Huntington’s assessment of the important of the Pirates’ eight remaining games before the All-Star break might have sounded unusually stark, but it was not news to those in the clubhouse. They not only know that they need to basically run the table against the Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers, but they know they can’t do it all at once.
“I think we can’t afford to look ahead,” Jordy Mercer said. “I don’t think we’re a good enough club to look ahead.”
The Pirates entered a three-game series against the Nationals at 41-48, 121/2 games back of the Brewers in the division standings and nine games out of the second wild-card spot.