The Pittsburgh Pirates have now officially suffered 18 straight losing seasons. It was closer than last year when they clinched on August 20th. The Pirates clinched with a loss against the Cardinals on Wednesday.

While the Pirates had two games (They’re winning tonight!), they aren’t even in their natural habitat – the basement of the NL Central. With 15 games remaining on the schedule, the Pirates have already won 10 more games than in all of 2010. Hell, they’re safe from finishing in the basement. The Astros clinched that honor and I wrote a post about how there’s a chance for Houston to turn it around going forward. Pirates’ fans should be downright giddy right now.

Previously: Pittsburgh Pirates Clinch 18th Consecutive Losing Season

The Pirates have released their 2012 season schedule. The season begins April 5 at PNC Park against the Philadelphia Phillies. After three against Philadelphia, they’ll head out for a West Coast trip against the Dodgers, Giants and Diamondbacks before returning home to face the Cardinals and Rockies beginning April 20. 

They’ll begin interleague play with a road series against the Detroit Tigers in mid-May. They’ll host the Royals, Twins and Tigers in June, and also play interleague series against the Indians and Orioles. 

After only nine games at home in April, they’ll play 18 home games in May. It’s June that might pose problems for them, as they’ll have a ton of interleague games (which they’ve historically been awful in) and road series against the Brewers, Reds, Phillies and Cardinals.

They’ll be at home Wednesday, July 4 against the Houston Astros.

Their season will end with a home series against the Atlanta Braves from October 1-3. 

For more on the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Garrett Jones homered to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning and lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Jones connected on a 2-2 pitch from Arthur Rhodes (3-4) for his 14th home run. It was also Jones’ second career game-ending homer as he connected against San Francisco’s Bob Howry on July 17, 2009.

Center fielder Andrew McCutchen prevented St. Louis from going ahead in the top of the 11th when he made a running backhanded inning-ending catch to rob Albert Pujols of extra bases and keep Rafael Furcal from scoring from first base.

Chris Resop (4-4) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

Pittsburgh tied the game in the ninth when Neil Walker homered on the first pitch from closer Fernando Salas. Walker, who has 10 homers, had not connected at home since June 5.

Salas, a rookie who suffered his fourth blown save in 27 opportunities, escaped further trouble when he got Brandon Wood to fly out and Ryan Ludwick to ground out with a runner on second base.

St. Louis had gone ahead in the top of the ninth on Matt Holliday’s sacrifice fly off closer Joel Hanrahan, snapping his streak of 15 consecutive scoreless innings. The Cardinals entered the day six games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Albert Pujols reached 30 home runs for the 11th consecutive season when he connected in the sixth inning. The NL home runs leader is the first player in the major-league history to hit 30 homers in each of his first 11 seasons.

Pujols’ 28 career home runs at PNC Park are his most at any visiting stadium.

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter struck out 10 in seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits with one walk.

Walker had three hits for the Pirates, Andrew McCutchen blasted a three-run home run and had two hits and Jose Tabata had two hits in his first game since strained his left quadriceps on June 26. Jones also had two hits.

David Freese had three hits for the Cardinals and Jay added two.

Pittsburgh starter Jeff Karstens allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings. He walked two and struck out five.

Jay led off the ninth with a double down the left-field line and was bunted to third by Rafael Furcal. Pujols was intentionally walked for the second straight plate appearances so Hanrahan could face Holliday, who briefly put the Cardinals ahead with his sacrifice fly.

The Cardinals tied the score at 3-3 with a two-run sixth inning that chased Karstens.

Pujols led off the inning with his home run into the right-field stands. Lance Berkman singled one out later and scored on Freese’s double to right.

McCutchen’s home run down the right-field line in the third off Carpenter put Pittsburgh ahead 3-1. The two-out drive came after Karstens walked and Tabata singled.

McCutchen helped St. Louis scored the game’s first run in the second inning when he allowed Holliday’s line drive to sail over his head for a leadoff double. Skip Schumaker drove in Holiday with a two-out single.

Notes: Tabata was activated from the 15-day DL before the game and the Pirates optioned 3B Pedro Alvarez to Class AAA Indianapolis. Tabata, who had been out since June 27 with a strained left quadriceps, started in left field and batted leadoff, going 2-for-5. Furcal and Jay flip-flopped places in the batting order with Jay hitting leadoff and Furcal hitting No. 2, a move manager Tony La Russa hopes will help the Cardinals cut down on hitting into double plays. They lead the NL with 132. Pirates RHP Evan Meek, on the DL since June 8 with shoulder tendinits, is scheduled to throw a simulated game Thursday at the Pirates’ training facility in Bradenton, Fla. If that goes well, he will begin a rehab assignment with Class A Bradenton next Monday. Cardinals RHP Kyle Lohse (10-7, 3.37) will start against LHP Paul Maholm (6-13, 3.60) on Wednesday in the finale of the three-game series. Lohse is 5-2 lifetime against Pittsburgh. Maholm has lost his last four decisions and Pujols is 21-for-36 (.583) against him with seven doubles and two home runs.

(Sports Network) – The Pittsburgh Pirates can begin one last improbable charge
toward the top of the National League’s Central Division tonight at Miller
Park, as they open a three-game series with the front-running Milwaukee
Brewers.

The Pirates were among the league’s biggest success stories for the season’s
first half, getting a share of the division for a brief spell and staying in
contention until a 10-game losing streak in late July and early August.

The dip pushed them below .500 for the season and to the fringes of contention
in the division, where they now trail the Brewers by 10 games after winning
two of three in San Francisco earlier in the week.

Milwaukee stretched its lead to four games over second-place St. Louis by
taking two of three in a series that ended Thursday, when Chris Carpenter
pitched eight strong innings and Albert Pujols went 4-for-4 with a homer and
two RBI as the Cardinals won, 5-2, to avoid a sweep.

Mark Kotsay and Prince Fielder both had RBI hits for the Brewers, who lost for
just the second time in their last 15 games. They grounded into four double
plays.

Yovani Gallardo (13-8) was saddled with the loss after allowing seven hits and
five runs — four earned — over five frames.

On Wednesday in San Francisco, Matt Diaz finished 2-for-4 with two RBI as
Pittsburgh plundered San Francisco, 9-2.

Ryan Ludwick added three hits, an RBI and two runs scored, while Andrew
McCutchen hit a two-run homer, walked three times and crossed the plate on
four occasions for the Pirates.

Jeff Karstens (9-6) worked six innings, allowing eight hits and two runs while
fanning nine for the win.

Milwaukee sends right-hander Zack Greinke to the mound, where he’ll face the
Pirates for the third time in his career.

The 27-year-old Floridian has won each of the first two meetings while
allowing a combined seven runs on 13 hits in 11 1/3 innings.

Lately, Greinke has won three straight outings, defeating the Chicago Cubs,
St. Louis and Houston while allowing 14 hits and three runs in 19 2/3 innings.

He’s been perfect at home in his first season with the Brewers, winning all
seven decisions in nine starts while posting a 3.49 earned run average.

Paul Maholm goes for the Pirates in search of his first win since July 10.

The Mississippi native was 6-9 on the season after a 9-1 defeat of the Cubs
that night, but has since dropped three decisions in five starts as his ERA
has ballooned from 2.96 to 3.54.

Maholm, a lefty, gave up 10 hits and seven runs in 6 2/3 innings of his last
outing, a 13-2 loss to San Diego on Aug. 6.

Maholm is 3-7 in 18 career starts against Milwaukee.

Milwaukee has won all five meetings with Pittsburgh this season and is 18-5 in
this series since the start of the 2010 campaign.

The Sports Network