On the Outside Looking In

Thud.

That's the sound of another precipitous drop to earth by the Pittsburgh Pirates. A little more than a week ago, they were on a bit of a run, hoping to put at least a little shine on yet another dull season. They had begun a road trip decked out in their best spoiler duds, taking the first two games of a three-game set from the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Then came a loss in the series finale, and the Buccos haven't won since, dropping three straight to contending San Diego and three straight to the Houston Astros, who have now won nine in a row and are poised to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history.

So much for Pirate aspirations to play with the big boys. Tonight, following a 3-0 loss to Roy Oswalt at PNC, they find themselves singing an old Lennon-McCartney tune:

"I don't want to spoil the party so I'll go
I would hate my disappointment to show
There's nothing for me here
So I will disappear..."

So the fragile promise of the second half threatens to disintegrate with a 10-game losing streak finish, which would happen if the team manages to drop its three-game finale to the Cincinnati Reds. The present seven-game skid has dropped them into a tie with the moribund Chicago Cubs, and as much as the players and the manager would probably deny it, yes, it would mean something if the Pirates wound up in the cellar, given the lifeless performance of the Cubs in the second half.

What has gone wrong? One word: offense, or more accurately the lack thereof. During the streak, the Pirates were nearly no-hit by ex-Buc Chris Young in San Diego, and scored a grand total of four runs in that three-game series. In the Houston series, they were shut down by Oswalt and Andy Pettite; those two games were sandwiched around the one game that they did manage some offense, but they blew a 6-1 lead in that one and lost in 15 innings. After piling up their six runs in the first five innings, they patted their stomachs, shoved themselves away from the table and contentedly napped for 10 scoreless innings to close out the game. With today's shutout, they've gone 19 innings without a tally. In seven losses, they've managed 16 runs -- total. The Dodgers scored 19 runs in one game on Thursday.

Somebody say oy vay.

No offense, Dave Littlefield, but you've got a team with no offense.

As always, we look to Resident Genius Jim Tracy for guidance in troubled times such as these, and he didn't disappoint following today's loss:

"We are definitely growing. On most days, when you look up there, you'll see hits on the board. And baserunners. And these guys that we have, they're going to keep getting better. Now, are there some things we need to look into? And could that make the situation much, much better? Sure, it could."

Maybe some runs would help. But at least we're growing. The Buccin' Ear may speak for most Pirates fans in saying we certainly are growing -- inpatient, frustrated, restless and weary. And that's usually after the first inning.

But RG wasn't finished with today's lesson. He then spun out one of those series of sentences that separates him from the rest of us mortals:

"But are we talking about a number of things? Uh-uh. No. It's close. It's a lot closer than a lot of people want to think."

A Spanish doubloon to the first reader who can decipher this. The Buccin' Ear freely admits that he doesn't speak Gibberish. Well, maybe there are just some things I need to look into.

Undoubtedly the most lucid statement of the day came from Astros manager Phil Garner, who said of the rain-delayed game, "I don't think anybody really wanted to come back."

Uh, no.

Well, three more games. What words can the Buccin' Ear summon up about the impending conclusion of this glorious season? Ah, RG has the answer:

It's close. It's a lot closer than a lot of people want to think."