Pirates Takeaways: Still Showing Fight, Santana Gets Rewarded

PITTSBURGH — The 2024 regular season is in its home stretch and given what’s happened to the Pittsburgh Pirates this month, they easily could be mailing it in.

The Pirates were in the thick of the postseason picture just a few short weeks ago, but a grueling 1o-game losing streak has Pittsburgh towards the bottom of the standings in the National League wild card race.

But the Pirates aren’t quitting. Starting with a win to put the lengthy losing streak to bed, the Bucs have won five of their last eight games. Their latest win came in a dramatic comeback over the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park on Friday night. The Pirates erased a five-run deficit and clawed back for a 6-5 win over their division-rivals.

“Packing it in is not in our dictionary, not in our category,” said Bailey Falter, the Pirates’ starting pitcher on Friday. “We’re always battling no matter what. Every pitch, every at-bat, so we’re just trying to finish the year strong and I feel like we’re doing pretty well right now.”

The Pirates chances of reaching the postseason are microscopic. That might even be generous. Even so, they are still showing fight, the same fight that had the Pirates in the playoff picture as late into the season as they were for the first time in a while.

Half of the Pirates’ losses during their 10-game losing streak were by a single run. Finally, the Pirates came out on the winning end of a one-run game, showing another sign of fight when they could have easily floundered.

“Very excited about it,” said manager Derek Shelton on the close win. “We’ve lost too many of them. But it was good. They continued to battle … I think it was important we kept going.”

How much does the fight the team is showing after the damaging stretch mean in the grand scheme of things this year? Maybe not much. Either way, the Pirates chances of making the playoffs aren’t going to dramatically increase because of the heart they’ve shown recently.

But to give credit where it’s due, the 26 guys on the roster are still fighting like they’re on the cusp of a playoff spot. That’s easier said than done.

“As a group, we have what it takes,” said Bryan De La Cruz, who finished with two RBIs in the win. “We’re playing as a group and we’re doing the right things we need to do to win games.”

Santana’s First Win

When the Pirates claimed Dennis Santana off waivers from the New York Yankees in June, there wasn’t much fanfare. Santana had been designated for assignment a couple days prior and had a career 5.39 ERA at the time.

But Ben Cherington and the Pirates’ front office saw something they liked and the right-hander has turned into a key component of the bullpen.

In 23 games since joining the Pirates, Santana has a 3.67 ERA. He had a six-run debacle in Coors Field on June 15 but has posted a impeccable 1.93 ERA in 20 appearances since then.

On Friday, he got his first win with the Pirates after tossing a pair of scoreless innings.

“Dennis has done a nice job,” Shelton said following the win. “I think that’s one of those ones, it’s an organizational credit. You identify a guy, you acquire him and then you get him in your pitching group and you mix up how he’s doing and now we’ve seen his slider tick up and the fastball is up to seven and eight at times and that’s just a good job organizationally by us.”

The Pirates’ bullpen this season has been inconsistent for much of the season, but Santana has served as a steady presence for the majority of his tenure in the black and gold.

David Bednar has been no exception to the inconsistencies out of the bullpen this season, but he converted his 23rd saved of the season on Friday. Bednar, too, has been quite impressed with what Santana has shown.

“He’s been great. Absolutely electric,” said the Pirates’ two-time closer. “Awesome guy and it’s been a lot of fun to watch him pitch and go out there and work. Like you saw today, just nasty stuff. Getting ahead of guys and getting quick outs. It’s been really impressive and watching him go about it is really awesome.”