Pirates Continue to Roll
The Pirates are now 9-2 over their last 11 games after defeating Boston 4-0 last night. Since going 12-20 from April to early May, the Pirates have posted a 68-50 record from May 6th through today. That is playing at a .576 clip and is the best record of any NL central division team over that time frame. That included the front running Cardinals. The only question that remains is if the season is long enough for the Buccos to overtake the Redbirds.
During Pittsburgh's latest hot streak, Josh Harrison has raised his batting average another 5 points from .312 to .317. Pittsburgh would not even be in the division or wild card race without the play of JHay this season. If the Brewers can take care of the Cardinals in their current series, the upcoming Pirates/Brewers series could decide the division title.
My personal belief is that the Pirates have an overall better team than the Cardinals. Some may point out that the Cards swept Pittsburgh in their last meet. Yes, but the margin of victory was all by just 1 or 2 runs. If they should meet again in the playoffs, the only difference between 1 run games is usually a broken bat bloop somewhere. Over the last 2 years, the Pirates have played the Cards tougher than the Brewers have. For that reason, I'd like to see another Cardinal/Pirate match up. That could only happen if both teams advance into the playoffs and everything lines up for them to face off. Should be a great race to the finish!
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