Perrotto: At Least For a Night, Pirates’ Young Hitters Provide Hope (+)

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ rebuilding process has had some ugly moments the last couple of months.

Since the All-Star break, the Pirates are an awful 12-33. Their latest loss came Saturday night when they built a 3-0 lead after two innings but wound up losing 7-5 to the National League Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park.

The loss eliminated the Pirates from the postseason picture. They will miss the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season. That certainly is not a surprise for a team with a 51-87 record.

However, for one of the few times recently, the Pirates gave off a ray of hope that maybe better days are ahead.