The Pirates entered this three game series in St. Louis looking to expand their lead in the NL Central but instead they leave the Busch Stadium a game and a half behind the Cardinals and on the verge of being passed by the Reds. There was no reason to expect that the Pirates wouldn't win at least one of these games and at least head to Arlington, Texas with a half game lead with Burnett, Locke and Morton going for the Pirates, but a rare error by McCutchen seemed to ignite the futility on the mound and at the plate in this series.
On the mound the pitchers got pounded almost from the get go as Burnett and Morton had uncharacteristically early exits while Locke, who had the best start of the three, came into this series with the most questions. At the plate, they did basically nothing outside of the 7 run rally in the latter innings of game one. They once again fell victim to swinging at bad pitches and not making the Cardinal pitchers work hard enough. They were also plagued once again by the inability to capitalize when they got runners into scoring position. About the only positive to take from this series is that the Pirates took the season series from St. Louis. This really adds more importance to the last six games against the Reds if the Pirates hope to hang on to second place. It also aloowed the gap to be narrowed between the Pirates and the Diamond backs, who once trailed the Pirates by 10.5 games. The Nationals also remain a threat to potentially catch the Pirates as well, for a wildcard spot.
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