Once upon a time, the New York Mets were 46-39 and in the thick of the NL wild card race. No one really expected them to be there, but with a combination of good starting pitching, some unlikely help on offense, and some good luck it seemed like maybe they were starting to turn things around. Since then, the Mets have gone 23-44. Their pitching has imploded, they've dealt with injuries, the good luck has gone away and for most of the second half they've been a depressing shell of a baseball team just playing out its string of games.
Once upon a time, the Pittsburgh Pirates were 63-47 and leading the NL wild card race. No one really expected them to be there, but with a combination of good starting pitching, some unlikely help on offense, and some good luck it seemed like maybe they were starting to turn things around. Since then, the Pirates have gone 12-30. Their pitching has imploded, they've dealt with injuries, the good luck has gone away and for most of the second half they've been a depressing shell of a baseball team just playing out its string of games.
This isn't the last season of the year for the Pirates or Mets, but it's pretty fitting that these two teams will be actively attempting to lose baseball games to each other this week. It'll probably be pretty hilarious to watch (Ronny Cedeno is involved!), but only if you can stomach watching the end of the Pirates' historic collapse. Kyle McPherson makes his first big league start tonight against Jenrry Mejia. First pitch is at 7:05.
