Pittsburgh (KDKA)- The Pittsburgh Pirates have two more series (Cincinnati and Milwaukee) before the 2011 season comes to and end.

For the first four months of the season, the Pirates were the talk of Pittsburgh and it actually felt like the city had a real baseball team.

All the positive vibes the team earned have been erased with a gigantic losing slump during the months of August and September.

Following yesterday’s 8-5 loss to Arizona, the Pirates now have a record of 69-87 and will likely finish with another 90 loss season.

Despite all the talk about trying to finish with a .500 record, the Pirates organization is headed for another Top 5 pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.

As of today, here are the top 10 picks for the draft next June:
1) Houston (53-102)
2) Minnesota (59-95)
3) Baltimore (65-90)
4) Seattle (66-89)
5) PIRATES (69-87)
6) Kansas City (68-88)
7) Chicago Cubs (69-87)
San Diego (68-88)
9) Oakland Athletics (69-86)
10) Colorado Rockies (70-85)

Although the Bucs will finish with a losing record for the 19th consecutive season, I’ve been able to come up with five positives to take from this season:

1) Pittsburgh fans still love baseball- The first four months of this season showed how great of a baseball town Pittsburgh could be if given something to cheer for. Heading into the final home stand, the Pirates attendance is 1,851,441 (an increase of over 330,000 people).

2) Pirates finally have a real manager in Clint Hurdle. The front office finally got one right with picking Hurdle. His passion and no bs style is so refreshing. Let’s hope he actually gets some talent to manage and then it could get really fun following baseball in Pittsburgh.

3) Rotation Stability for 2012. The Pirates will go into next season knowing that they have 3 legitimate major league starters in Jeff Karstens, James McDonald and Charlie Morton. I’m not saying their All-Star pitchers but it’s possible to win with them in your rotation.

4) All-Star Closer. Maybe the best individual story was the emergence of Joel Hanrahan as one of the top closers in MLB.

5) Two Blue-Chip Prospects Added. The organization added two top prospects to the farm system by drafting RHP Gerrit Cole and OF Josh Bell. The team desperately needed a hitting prospect like Bell and Cole is added to the future rotation with Jameson Taillion and Luis Heredia.

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.

McCutchen hit his 21st and 22nd home runs, Jason Jaramillo singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Astros 5-4 on Wednesday night, last-place Houston’s fifth loss in six games.

“That,” said Astros manager Brad Mills said, “was our game to win. We’ve had a few tough ones to lose, and that definitely is one of them.”

Houston hit three home runs, including consecutive shots by Carlos Lee and Matt Downs in the first inning that gave them the first of two three-run leads.

Clint Barmes also homered, but Happ gave up both of McCutchen’s shots, the second of which coming with two men on in the fourth to tie the game at 4.

Making his third start since a three-week stint in the minors during August, Happ gave up four runs on five hits and four walks in five innings. He tied a season high with eight strikeouts.

“We have seen him fight through it before,” Mills said of Happ. “He was able to make a lot of pitches when he needed, but obviously one guy hurt him.”

Happ had allowed one earned run in his two previous starts since bring promoted back to the majors. He also hadn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his previous seven career starts against the Pirates, including tossing seven shutout innings against them in his most recent outing Aug. 31.

But McCutchen tagged him for two first-pitch homers Wednesday.

“He was aggressive, obviously, today,” Happ said. “Kind of a change from the last time we played in our home series, but he is a tough out.”

Clint Hurdle’ 600th as a manager in the majors was earned when Jaramillo’s grounder through the hole at second drove in pinch-runner Chase d’Arnaud.

“I was just looking for a good pitch out over the plate,” said Jaramillo, who was on Pittsburgh’s opening day roster but spent most of the season in Triple-A or injured. “I know in that situation you hear that a lot, but honestly, I was just trying to stay as quiet as possible, and it worked out. I got a pitch out over the plate and just put a good swing on it.”

The Pirates’ bullpen combined for 5 2-3 innings of scoreless relief, with Tony Watson (2-2) getting the final out in the eighth and Joel Hanrahan working a perfect ninth for his 36th save in 39 opportunities.

Garrett Jones and Ryan Doumit hit consecutive pinch-hit singles with one out in the bottom of the eighth off Wilton Lopez (2-6). Jaramillo then produced the only run of the game that did not come on a home run.

Lee and Downs hit consecutive homers off Brian Burres in the first, the second time this season the Astros hit back-to-back shots.

Lee has 15 homers, but four have come in his past 14 games. Downs made it two Burres pitches, two home runs to left, when his line drive struck the foul pole.

“We went up early,” said Downs, “but there was a lot of game left when we went up.

“When you go up early, there’s a lot of game left to fight back, so it’s just one of those nights.”

Barmes 10th homer was a solo shot in the fourth.

McCutchen has four career multihomer games, two this season. McCutchen has a career-high 22 home runs.

“You don’t want to not ready until after the first pitch; you want to be ready every single pitch,” McCutchen said. “That’s my thought process — be ready. And (Happ) grooved me a couple fastballs, and I was able to hit them out.”

Making his second start since being promoted from Triple-A, Burres allowed four runs on seven hits in 3 2-3 innings.

“I had some command issues, pretty much, with all the pitches,” Burres said. “And I left some out over the fat part of the plate, and they got hit pretty hard.”

NOTES: Hurdle, who kept the ball from his milestone victory, said LHP Jeff Locke will make his major league debut when he starts Saturday’s game against Florida. RHP Charlie Morton will, in effect, have his turn in the rotation skipped as he deals with late-season fatigue. Hurdle also said the team could, at times, go with a six-man rotation the rest of the season. … Pittsburgh RHP Jared Hughes made his major league debut, allowing one hit in 1 1-3 scoreless innings. … Astros RHP Bud Norris has 34 strikeouts in 29 1-3 innings over his past five outings. He starts Friday in Washington. … The Pirates begin a three-game series against the Marlins on Friday. Pittsburgh was swept in Florida in April, and was shut out in two of the three defeats.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

PITTSBURGH (AP)—The Pittsburgh Pirates activated outfielder Ryan Ludwick(notes)
from the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday, and he was in the lineup batting
sixth against the Houston Astros.

Ludwick, who hadn’t played since Aug. 22 due to mid-back spasms, was moved
from left field to right. Rookie Alex Presley(notes) took over in left when Ludwick was
out, but outfielder Jose Tabata(notes) has a broken hand and is out indefinitely.

Ludwick was acquired on July 31 from San Diego for a player to be named or
cash.

Pittsburgh is 11-25 since then and 4-15 with Ludwick in the lineup. He is
hitting .262 with one home run in 65 at-bats for the Pirates.

Quintero had three RBIs, threw out a runner attempting to steal immediately prior to a home run and called Myers’ first win in 2½ months, leading Houston to a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

“I’m happy because I know he hasn’t won a lot this year and it’s been tough for him,” Quintero said. “Maybe he’ll start winning now and we’ll see more wins next year.”

Myers (4-13) allowed one run and four hits over 7 2-3 innings at soggy, chilly PNC Park as last-place Houston snapped a four-game losing streak.

Myers skipped his most recent turn in the rotation to be with his wife as she gave birth to the couple’s fourth child. He had lost seven consecutive decisions since he pitched a four-hitter in a 7-3 victory at the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 17.

“I just try to go out there and get quality starts,” Myers said. “If I get a win, I get a win. I’m just trying to help this ballciub win games, but it’s always good to get a win for myself, too.”

The Astros have won four of their last five against Pittsburgh but are 2-9 in their past 11 against everyone else. Jimmy Paredes finished with three hits and Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his 17th save.

Ryan Doumit homered and former No. 4 overall draft pick Brad Lincoln had another effective outing for Pittsburgh, which has lost two of three and seven of 10.

It rained for much of the game for the second straight day of the series, but there were no in-game delays again. Monday afternoon’s game started 56 minutes late due to the weather, but Tuesday’s contest went on without a hitch despite temperatures falling into the 50s and wet conditions.

Both starters seemingly were unaffected by the weather — or maybe it was two of the NL’s worst scoring teams. Myers struck out six and walked none.

“He was able to keep them off balance,” Houston manager Brad Mills said. “He got one breaking ball up to Doumit, but he didn’t have many baserunners. There weren’t a lot of stressful innings for him, and that was just great to see. It kind of set the tone for us.”

The Astros grabbed the lead in the second. Carlos Lee led off with a single and stole second. He moved up on Brian Bogusevic’s single and scored when Paredes grounded into a fielder’s choice.

Quintero had a two-out RBI double in the second and a two-run single in the eighth.

Doumit hit a two-out drive in the second for his eighth homer.

Lincoln (1-2) allowed two runs and five hits in six innings. He tied a career high with six strikeouts and walked none.

“He leaves game giving up (only) two runs,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “He was very solid again tonight. Very aggressive on both sides of the plate. … He was very, very effective, just a good mix of pitches, the ball was down in the zone. Another good outing for Brad, a very good outing.”

Lincoln threw 67 of 97 pitches for strikes. He has allowed seven runs in his past four starts — all coming in either the first or second inning.

“It seems when I do give up runs they come in little bunches like that,” Lincoln said. “But I felt good out there. The curveball felt good, and it was good to get deep into the game.”

Pittsburgh had two men on with two outs in the eighth, but Wesley Wright got Garrett Jones to fly out to right.

NOTES: Pirates OF Jose Tabata was diagnosed with a broken bone in his left hand. He will rest and receive treatment for 10 days to allow the bone to heal and will be re-evaluated at that time. He first experienced pain while swinging the bat in the cage on Aug. 24 and left Monday’s game due to pain in the hand. … the Astros activated LHP Sergio Escalona from the disabled list. … RHP J.A. Happ is scheduled to start for Houston on Wednesday. He has allowed four earned runs in three starts against Pittsburgh this season. … LHP Brian Burres makes his second start of the season Wednesday for the Pirates.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.