Coming off of Memorial Day weekend, you might have overdone it with a few too many hot dogs, an extra helping or two of macaroni salad, and maybe you shoulda saved that last slice of cookie cake for one of the neighborhood kids at the cookout.

Similarly, the Pittsburgh Pirates have given us a lot to digest of late. Some of it has led Bucco fans to reach for Pepto Bismol. Other times, their games have been a nice, post-meal digestif.

It really has depended on the day. That’s why the team is 11-10 in May. That’s why they are two games above .500 for the season (28-26), but still in last place.

So let’s sort out some of the numbers, trends, twists and turns for the Pirates recently as they continue on this week-long homestand.


• After Monday’s 2-1 win over Chicago, the Pirates rematch with the Cubs again Tuesday at PNC Park in Game 2 of a four-game set.

The Bucs will start their best pitcher in the month of May, Braxton Ashcraft. The 26-year-old right-hander is 2-0 with an ERA of 1.91 this month. His last loss came April 28 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ashcraft is now 3-2 with an ERA of 2.89. That’s the best ERA on the team among the starters this year. His 1.03 WHIP is only behind Paul Skenes’ 0.82. His 62⅓ innings pitched are the second-highest total, trailing just Mitch Keller’s 64.1.

Jordan Wicks (0-1, 6.28) will start for the Chicago Cubs. He has appeared in eight games this year without a start.

• Oneil Cruz had a nice afternoon at the plate against the Cubs on Monday. He went 2 for 4. Most notably, he didn’t strike out.

This was the first game since May 3 — and just the second game this month — that Cruz played and didn’t strike out.

To this point, the Pittsburgh center fielder has 36 strikeouts in May. He leads the majors with 84 strikeouts on the season.

• An area where the Pirates still need to get better is hitting with runners in scoring position. They were 0 for 6 in that regard Monday. Bucco Batters haven’t had an RISP hit since the series finale in St. Louis on Thursday.

That means the Pirates are 0 for 27 with runners in scoring position during the last four games. Yet, somehow, two of those games have been wins.

For the year, the Pirates are 22nd in RISP batting average at .231. Their OPS of .653 is 28th, and their 140 strikeouts with runners in scoring position is the highest total in the league.

• Paul Skenes allowed four runs in his start Saturday in Toronto and five runs during his previous outing against the Philadelphia Phillies. It’s the first time he has allowed three or more earned runs in consecutive starts in his career.

• Whatever may be working well for the Pirates, or going poorly for the Pirates, now is the time to strike against the Cubs.

Chicago has lost nine games in a row. At 29-25, the club is in third place in the National League Central, just a game in front of the Pirates (28-26).

Craig Counsell’s team is 3½ games back of division-leading Milwaukee at 31-20 (.608). The Cubs’ problems have been especially highlighted on the road, where they are 11-14.

Chicago’s offense has been bad of late. They’re averaging just 2.67 runs per game during the slide.

Over the last 15 days, Chicago’s team OPS of .574 is the worst in Major League Baseball. So is their team batting average of .183. Their total of 77 hits is the lowest in MLB over that time, and their 39 runs are 27th.

• One Cub who is having a particularly rough go of things lately is Mt. Lebanon’s Ian Happ. He has just one hit in his last 30 at-bats and is hitting .181 in May.

The former All-Star is a career .310 hitter against the Pirates with a .947 OPS and 19 home runs (.304/.901 at PNC Park). But he was 0 for 3 Sunday.

Nico Hoerner, a career .351 hitter against Pittsburgh, and Seiya Suzuki, a .387 hitter at PNC Park, both went down in the ninth inning against Gregory Soto to end the game.

That was Soto’s sixth save of the season.

• The Minnesota Twins (26-28) come to town Friday after the Cubs leave. They’ve been the opposite of Chicago lately.

Prior to a 3-1 loss Monday to the Chicago White Sox, Derek Shelton’s bunch had won four in a row and six of seven.