I said before this series started on Friday that there would be no moral victories for the Pirates this weekend, but that was probably an overly dramatic statement. The Pirates did not sweep the Cardinals, of course, and that means that they’re 5 1/2 games out with 27 to play and only three left against the Cardinals. That’s probably insurmountable, and so now everything goes towards thinking about the playoffs, both the Wild Card Game and hopefully beyond it.
Gerrit Cole absolutely dominated the Cardinals, scattering two hits and walking three while striking out seven in seven shutout innings. I’m not 100% convinced that the issue with his slider is fixed; he actually threw more curves than sliders for the second straight game (and the second time this year), but he generated five whiffs with the curve in 17 ptiches. There’s likely a larger story here, since Cole’s slider and curve are occasionally indistinguishable and in Cole’s first two seasons most of his breaking balls were categorized as curves, before changing to sliders this year. If there is some kind of on-going work happening with his breaking ball, it seems like it’s starting to pay off, at least. Three of his last four starts have been excellent, and this start here against the Cardinals was one of his best of 2015. At the very least, this start affords some peace of mind that Cole is still capable of taking over a game by sheer force of will in a fashion that will be useful in a one-game playoff.
Beyond that, winning a series in St. Louis is a pretty big deal for the Pirates, given their road woes against both division foes this year and the Cardinals in general over the last couple. If we look ever so briefly beyond the looming Wild Card Game, the Pirates will not get beyond the NLDS without winning at least one game in St. Louis. After losing their first five games there this year, the Pirates have won three out of four by scores of 10-5, 9-3, and 7-1. That’s a nice trend, even if this weekend wasn’t quite enough to put them back into the division race.
So where to from here? The Pirates need to win enough games to bring the Wild Card back to PNC Park, and the Cubs don’t seem to really be slowing down. If the Pirates are going to keep on winning enough to stay ahead of the Cubs, that would probably give them a shot to be there if the Cardinals should happen to fall apart down the stretch. It’s unlikely, but hey, it’s a 162-game season and not a 135-game season, I guess.
Footnote: Isn’t it fun that the Pirates’ 81st win is a footnote these days?
