BOSTON -- The magic number remains stalled at four, and the way the Boston Red Sox lost Thursday night, you wonder if a certain former Sox manager has a John Farrell voodoo doll on his athletic director's desk.
There are nine games left in Boston's misbegotten season. They need to win four to finish with a better record than Bobby Valentine's 69-93 2012 team, which featured, in Bobby V's words, "the weakest roster we've ever had in September in the history of baseball."
Don't expect Farrell to issue a similar pronouncement should the Class of 2014 finish with a worse failing grade than the Class of '12; World Series champions or dregs of the AL East, Farrell has accorded his players the same degree of respect.
But after the Sox fell 3-2 to the Pirates and former Sox reliever Mark Melancon on Thursday night in PNC Park, Farrell may wonder what pitfalls may yet await the Sox before the season mercifully draws to a close a week from Sunday.
The Sox have been miserable with runners in scoring position all season, but they invented a novel way to sabotage a budding rally in the ninth inning Thursday.
The Sox were on the verge of tying the score after Allen Craig led off the ninth by being grazed by a pitch and pinch-runner Jemile Weeks bolted to third on a single by Daniel Nava. The next batter, Will Middlebrooks, chopped a ball down the third-base line that struck Weeks as he tried diving back to the bag. He was called out on runner's interference, Farrell failing to persuade plate umpire Mike Muchlinski that Weeks was not in fair territory when the ball struck him.
Even if Weeks was on the bag and in fair territory, he would have been out. Crew chief Mike Winters said the play was not reviewable.
Melancon, with runners on first and second and one out, then snuffed out Sox hopes by striking out Jackie Bradley Jr. and retiring Christian Vazquez on a ground ball to second.
It was another galling night for Bradley, who went 0-for-4, left six runners on base, and is just 1-for-27 since his recall from Pawtucket on Sept. 5. The rookie center fielder is batting .203, which would be the lowest average ever for a Sox rookie with at least 350 plate appearances, breaking a record that has stood for 107 seasons (Heinie Wagner, .213, 1907).
Bradley is starting to tilt precariously close to the mythical Mendoza line (.200 average). Only six rookies in big league history with 350 or more plate appearances have finished with a batting average under .200. The last was shortstop Dick Schofield, who batted .193 for the Angels in 1984.
If it's any consolation to Bradley, Schofield lasted 14 seasons in the big leagues, mostly because of his glove, which is also Bradley's greatest asset.
There was little comforting Sox rookie Brandon Workman, who walked in an unearned run in the first, gave up three straight hits for a second run in the fourth, and coughed up a home run to Starling Marte in the fifth. Workman is now 1-10.
The Pirates, winners of four straight and seven of eight in trying to lock down a playoff spot, outhomered the Sox in this series, 6-to-0. The Sox were 2-for-23 in the series with runners in scoring position.