PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates can only hope to start the second half of their season a little better than they ended the first.
The Pirates (37-44) have lost two games in a row to San Francisco (32-51), one of the worst teams in the National League but one that has matched a season high with a five-game winning streak.
Despite being below .500, the Pirates are not dead in the water in the NL Central, where they trail leader Milwaukee by six games.
But it seems that when Pittsburgh is hitting, its pitching fails it.