Although it didn’t end with a heart-wrenching walk-off (that was Friday!), Saturday’s loss had a familiar feel to it….a lot like that sweep in St Louis when the Pirates constantly filled the bases with runners but couldn’t bring anyone in. A good pitching effort was wasted and the result was an irritating loss.
Again, the RISP thing isn’t a long term concern. The Pirates have actually been better with RISP than without RISP this year, but they’ve picked terrible times to have their worst games. The overall performance offense is certainly still worth worrying about, but they did pick up nine hits in seven innings off Jon Lester and threaten nearly every inning, and key guys like Harrison and McCutchen (although he struggled in this one) have picked it up lately.