Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
There was a time during the month of April that the Pittsburgh Pirates appeared to be the team to beat in the National League Central. Between then and now appearances it seemed had been deceiving as they took a drip downward in the division at the same time the St. Louis Cardinals shot straight up. The Cardinals have not let up nor have they began to look like they don’t belong at the top of the division. What has happened however is that the Pirates have begun to catch the Cards anyway.
The Pirates aren’t alone and as a matter of fact are tied with the Cincinnati Reds just a couple of games behind the powerhouse Cardinals. The Cardinals are the best team in baseball but the Pirates and Reds also have more wins than any other first place team in Major League Baseball. The rise of the Pirates cannot easily be ignored and I think they are beginning to show that they are the budding team to beat in the NL. As their pitching gets better over the course of the season they will get even more difficult to beat.
That can be illustrated by the fact that they just won three of four games from the first place Detroit Tigers. As was the case over the last month they won two games in 1 – 0 pitching duel fashion and another in which they scored a ton of runs. Their bats matched up when they needed to and the pitching matched up at the very least and at times outshined the Tigers. A team that would not have been favored in any game with a first place team will soon be one it will be foolish to bet against.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.
