Pirates Inability to String Wins Proving Fatal
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The Pittsburgh Pirates have not won three consecutive games since July 11 and July 12, when they swept a doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers and then won the following day's game to complete a three-game sweep at American Family Field.
That was 41 games ago and the PIrates are in a completely different place now than they were then.
For a team trying to claw its way into the postseason for the first time since 2015, the inability to string together wins has been the defining characteristic of second-half struggles that have all but ended their playoff hopes.
The Numbers Tell the Story
The Pirates' playoff odds have plummeted over the past two months. On June 4, FanGraphs gave Pittsburgh a 61.9 percent chance of reaching the postseason.
By July 22, those odds had dropped to 47.2 percent. By August 1, they stood at 27.6 percent. As of August 22, FanGraphs had the Pirates at just 2.0 percent, while Baseball Reference was even more pessimistic at 1.8 percent.
Entering the Dodgers series, the Pirates sat at 63-66, three games below .500 and five-and-a-half games back of the San Diego Padres for the third National League Wild Card spot.
Four teams stood between them and that final playoff berth: the Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins and the Padres.
After dropping the first two games of the Dodgers series, they're now 63-68 and seven games back in the Wild Card hunt.
The Pirates' struggles in the second half have been stark. After the All-Star break, Pittsburgh won just eight of its first 23 games, dropping the club to 58-62 and four games below .500 for the first time in 2026.
The slide featured just six wins in a 20-game stretch, six consecutive series defeats and two separate four-game losing streaks.
The offense collapsed. Prior to the All-Star break, the Pirates hit .263/.342/.426 for an OPS of .768.
Afterward, those numbers cratered to .229/.301/.351 for an OPS of .652 — a drop of more than 100 points.
Bryan Reynolds, the team's cornerstone, saw his OPS fall from elite levels to just .601 in the second half, hitting .211/.290/.311 over 23 games. Injuries to Ryan O'Hearn, Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz clearly began to take their toll.
Winning Streaks Have Been Elusive
The Pirates' last legitimate winning streak came at the end of May and start of June, when they won four straight games to improve to 33-28.
They also won five straight in the second week of the season to improve to 6-3 and get Pittsburgh excited in April. But since that July doubleheader sweep in Milwaukee, Pittsburgh has not won more than two games in a row.
In August, the Pirates won consecutive games just once heading into the Tigers series. Even their modest resurgence on the homestand against the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers — winning two series in a row — did not produce a winning streak longer than two games.
They won the series finale against Boston on August 16, then took the first two games against Detroit on August 17 and 18 before losing the finale on August 19.
Had they swept the Tigers, they would have carried a four-game winning streak into Los Angeles. Instead, they arrived at Dodger Stadium having won five of seven, but still without the sustained momentum that playoff teams require.
The Road Ahead
The Pirates' upcoming schedule offers little reprieve. After facing the Dodgers, they travel to San Diego for a three-game set against the Padres, followed by a series against the Cardinals in St. Louis. All three teams are ahead of Pittsburgh in the Wild Card chase.
Analysts have suggested the Pirates need to win at least five or six games on this nine-game road trip to keep their season alive. Given that they have not won more than two games in a row since July 12, that seems increasingly unlikely.
There is a sliver of hope: the Pirates have 15 home games in September against the Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants, three of the worst teams in baseball.
But at this point, Pittsburgh would need a near-perfect run just to have a chance, and their track record suggests they simply cannot sustain the kind of winning streak required.
The Pirates have shown flashes of competence. They can win a series. They can beat good teams.
But in a playoff race defined by margins, the inability to string together wins has proven fatal. Every time they take a step forward, they take two steps back. And with the calendar turning toward September, time has all but run out.
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Ethan Merrill is from Grand Rapids, MI, and brings with him a diverse background of experiences. After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in journalism, he worked with the Arizona Diamondbacks for three seasons before settling in the Pittsburgh area in 2020. With a passion for sports and a growing connection to his community, Ethan brings a fresh perspective to covering the Pittsburgh Pirates.