'We just need to reset': Pirates still seeking way out of funk

PITTSBURGH -- The Blue Jays’ fan contingent made its presence known the entire weekend at PNC Park, a sea of blue taking up residence in the lower bowl behind the first-base dugout.

In the top of the eighth inning on Sunday, the visitors attempted to make the stadium their own. With Canada’s team leading by five runs, a lead that would grow to nine, the visitors began chanting, “Let’s go Blue Jays!” on repeat, much to the chagrin of the hometown crowd.

On the field, the home team weathered its own frustrations, too.

The Pirates (20-15) still have a winning record after dropping their seventh straight game, the latest defeat being a 10-1 loss against the Blue Jays in a finale that started 1 hour and 35 minutes late due to rain. Pittsburgh still leads the NL Central after enduring its second consecutive series sweep. The club’s hot start afforded it a cushion, but that cushion is wilting. The Pirates cruised in April, but they are grinding in May, with a group of players searching for stability amidst the choppy waters.

“Today is in the past. The game's over today. Doesn't matter,” said first baseman Carlos Santana, who drove in his team's sole run on Sunday. “The mentality is to play hard every day, and I know we're on a bad run, but it's good because we address it. Just like how we played the last month and a half. … We have to be focused on tomorrow, play hard, win the game.

“It's hard. [There's] a lot of competition. … The mentality is good, tomorrow we'll play good and we'll win."

If April was defined by most things going right, May has been defined by most things going sideways. Over the past seven games, very little has gone Pittsburgh’s way.

The offense has gone cold, as the Pirates have scored two runs or fewer in each of the past seven games, hitting .184 as a unit during the dry spell. The rotation, which strung together 11 consecutive quality starts at one point in April, has an 8.13 ERA in the losing streak, highlighted by Johan Oviedo allowing 13 earned runs over his past two starts. The Pirates have had lowlights on defense and on the basepaths as well, mistakes they can’t afford to make against top-tier opponents.

“I think no one expected that pace to keep up, as well as we played,” said manager Derek Shelton. “During that time, we were playing full games, and right now we're not. We're not pitching extremely well, we're not swinging the bats extremely well. We've had some plays we should have made. We just need to reset a little bit and get back to the consistency we had.”

The rash of injuries isn’t helping Pittsburgh’s cause, either. Right-hander Vince Velasquez was placed on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation on Friday, though general manager Ben Cherington said on Sunday that the team believes the injury to be on the minor side.

On the major side, right-hander JT Brubaker is done for the season after undergoing season-ending surgery to reconstruct his right ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) while shortstop Oneil Cruz (left fibula), first baseman Ji Man Choi (left Achillies) left-hander Jarlín García (nerves in left biceps) and right-hander Wil Crowe (right shoulder) are currently on the 60-day injured list.

In a bit of positive news, Ji Hwan Bae and Andrew McCutchen both came off the bench on Sunday after dealing with left ankle ailments. Cherington said Bae has no restrictions, but McCutchen’s status remains unclear.

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“It’s not an excuse in any stretch, because every team goes through injuries and losing guys,” Shelton said. “But when you build a club and you have those guys that you think you’re going to pencil in, then it does nick your depth a little bit.”

Following back-to-back series against the Rays and Blue Jays, two of the best teams in the Majors, the Pirates have a reprieve in the form of the Rockies, a team they outscored by 24 runs en route to a three-game sweep in Colorado in April. Pittsburgh will send staff ace Mitch Keller to the mound on Monday, and if anyone on this team is equipped to play the role of stopper, it’s him.

The Pirates are in a funk, but winning teams find ways to navigate these times. If the club wants any chance at playing baseball in October, it’ll have to figure out how to weather the storm.

“Good teams also have to go through tough stretches, learn from that, get better and be that much more prepared to deal with it the next time around,” Cherington said. “There is a lot we can learn here from the last few days. We know during a season, we’re going to hit some adversity. We’ve hit some this week. We are playing really good teams, but we also want to focus on ourselves: What can we do and what can we control?”