Bucs holding out hope for playoff run as season hits final weeks

CHICAGO -- The Pirates entered the Windy City for series against the White Sox and Cubs 5 1/2 games back of the final NL Wild Card spot with 18 games remaining. As they take the plane back to Pittsburgh, they are in nearly the exact same spot, sitting six games back with just 12 games to go.

Pittsburgh avoided the sweep Sunday, taking home a 4-3 victory over the Cubs to finish the road trip 4-2 and hold a 75-75 record entering the season's final two weeks. Brandon Lowe drove home two runs as a pinch-hitter while the Pirates' bullpen threw 3 2/3 no-hit innings to seal the win just a day after the same unit faltered.

“There's still a chance,” Lowe said of the Pirates' postseason hopes. “Any way that you want to look at it, whether it be a long shot, whether it be anything. We're still playing meaningful games. That's all you can ask for right now.”

The days are now numbered. There is no room for error.

A series sweep on the South Side gave some hope of a possible September surge. Pittsburgh routed the White Sox in the first game Tuesday while winning the next two close matchups to extend its winning streak to four. The problem? The Pirates barely moved in the standings, as the Padres and Diamondbacks rarely faltered.

The opener on the North Side Friday would be the ultimate test to see if the Pirates had the potential for miracle run down the stretch. Pittsburgh trotted out three rookie pitchers instead of Braxton Ashcraft, who went on the injured list with right arm discomfort. Meanwhile, the Cubs countered with left-hander Shota Imanaga, who has dominated the Pirates in recent memory. The result was as expected: a crushing Chicago victory.

Saturday’s game was possibly the last chance to flip the script again with a bounce-back, something the Pirates have been able to do all year long to stay within close distance of a playoff spot. Pittsburgh looked in control with ace Paul Skenes carving through the Cubs' lineup and Ryan O’Hearn returning from the injured list with a three-run homer.

Then came the return of a pain point from the first half: the bullpen. Gregory Soto came in to hold a one-run lead in the eighth and … well, you probably know the rest. All that was left for Sunday’s game was to finish the road trip at .500.

“I know yesterday was frustrating, a tough loss, but to bounce back today, have a 4-2 road trip, go back home .500 -- just keep on going every single day,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said.

It was again the 20-year-old shortstop Konnor Griffin who got things going for Pittsburgh against Chicago. He led off the first inning with a single and scored two batters later on a Bryan Reynolds single. Fellow rookie Bubba Chandler dealt through four innings with just one hit allowed, but he gave up the lead with a two-run homer by Miguel Amaya in the fifth. The Pirates answered in the top of the sixth with a Nick Gonzales ground-rule double into the ivy, and Lowe’s pinch-hit two-run single pushed the score to 4-3.

When Chandler ran into more trouble in the fifth, Kelly used more urgency to escape than he did Saturday. He put in Carmen Mlodzinski with one out and the bases loaded, and Mlodzinski allowed just one runner to score.

After Mlodzinski tossed another scoreless frame, Luke Weaver and Mason Montgomery needed a combined 14 pitches to record the final six outs. Even after a win for Pittsburgh to salvage the weekend series and finish the road trip strong, the situation remains quite the same. The Pirates need a run for the ages to climb out of the hole they dug for themselves throughout the summer.

“Good road trip,” Lowe said. “Still work to be done.”