One-run losses continue to pile up during Pirates' lengthy skid

SAN DIEGO -- As a ball off the bat of Bryan Reynolds sailed out on a line into center field Monday night, it appeared as if the best hitter in the Pirates' lineup was bound to turn a one-run game into a deadlock. He's comes through in plenty of run-scoring situations before, but in this specific instance, Jackson Merrill evidently had other plans. 

With the visitors trailing by a run and Reynolds serving as the team's last hope in the top of the ninth inning, his line drive was snagged by a fast-charging Merrill to send the Pirates to a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Padres at Petco Park. 

"He had a great beat on it immediately, right off the bat," Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters in the home clubhouse. "You could tell his jump was great, the route was great, and there's no question about his determination and ability to catch it. As they'd say, hang a gold star on it."

Merrill's game-clinching grab, one that easily prevented Reynolds from tying the game and getting himself into scoring position as the potential go-ahead run, served as a perfect illustration for how the Pirates have fared as of late. He made the catch by the slimmest of margins, resembling the fashion in which they've lost a number of their recent games. During this 11-game stretch in which they've dropped 10, including eight in a row after this latest setback, they've fallen short with seven one-run defeats. Starting pitching has struggled from time to time, the bullpen has served as the weakest link in squandering late leads and the offense hasn't been able to get timely hits to fall when they've needed them most. The latter was on full display when Reynolds saw the ball land in Merrill's glove, ending any hopes of a late rally.

"I think if you were painting up how the last 10 days have gone, that kinda sums it up right there," Derek Shelton said. "We just have to make our own break. Bryan has a not good at-bat there, swings out of the zone but squares the ball right up. (Merrill) makes a heck of a catch and that ends up being the difference of the game." 

Going back further than the Pirates' July 31 loss to the Astros that kickstarted this lengthy period of dreadful results, they've played in five more one-run games dating back to the start of the second half. They won three of them and lost two against the Cardinals and Diamondbacks in late July. On the season, the Pirates are 19-24 in one-run games. 

"I think if you look back at it since the break, this is our eighth or ninth one-run loss. We're right there. We continue to battle. We had the winning run at the plate with Bryan Reynolds and Jackson Merrill has killed us over the last two weeks. He makes a heck of a play on a ball. That's a gutsy move. He dives for it, and we're looking at a triple, the game is tied (if he misses it) but he catches it," Shelton said. "We need a ball to fall. We need a break and we're not getting them right now. We gotta keep going. We've gotta keep getting through it. It would be different if our effort wasn't good. If we weren't continuing to play. But we're continuing to play. We just need a ball to fall for us." 

Reynolds was hopeful the ball he hit, which came on a 3-1 sinker up and out of the zone from Padres closer Robert Suarez, would fall and extend the game. Merrill's catch only added to the string of one-run heartbreaks. While there is frustration and disappointment that comes with these results in which the Pirates are within reach before ultimately falling short, there is also some confidence that comes with it, knowing there have been winnable games within their grasp. 

"Obviously you want to win close games, you need to win the close games," Reynolds said. "Also, it's not like we're getting blown out. We're right there. We're just missing a hit here or there, or whatever it may be. Just got to get hot." 

The Pirates' offense has been serviceable over the last 11 games, scoring a total of 47 runs and averaging around four per game. During that span, they've scored four or more runs eight times. Yet, on this night, they struggled to come through with timely hits until the ninth inning. That's when Bryan De La Cruz reached on a one-out single, advanced to second on defensive indifference and scored on a sharply-hit single by Andrew McCutchen:

Other than that one run, the Pirates offense failed to capitalize on their chances, leaving 10 runners on base and going 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. They stranded runners in all but one inning and had a runner reach at least second in six different innings. 

"Showing up every day, I think we're more than doing that," Shelton said. "We're playing the hottest team in baseball right now. We're catching a stretch where we're playing the two hottest teams in baseball in Arizona and San Diego. It's the first stretch where we've lost consecutive games. I think we went through a stretch where we hadn't lost three-in-a-row. We're playing good games. We've got to find a ball to fall or a play to make. Something has got to happen. If the effort wasn't there, I think this would be a different conversation. But everyone can see the effort is there every night." 

Looking at the standings, the Pirates continue to lose ground with each losing result. They're still sitting in last place in the National League Central standings, trailing the Brewers by 11 games. They're six games behind the Braves for the final wild card spot, but there are five other teams with postseason aspirations sitting in front of them on the outside looking in. 

Players have continued to express optimism in being able to eventually see this streak come to an end. While the Pirates haven't necessarily looked overmatched in any of these losses against high-caliber teams, they haven't done quite enough to come out on the winning side. As McCutchen mentioned following Sunday's loss in Los Angeles, the Pirates will need to shake off another defeat and get ready to play the next day. And as Reynolds told me in the clubhouse after this eighth-straight loss, it's all about focusing on what's next, not what has already transpired. 

"(The key is) not thinking about it as a clump," Reynolds said. "Just have to keep it pitch to pitch. That's the biggest thing."