The Pirates managed just five hits in an awful 5-1 loss to baseball's worst team on Monday as the Bucs' playoff chances continued to fade away.
Journeyman Edgar Gonzalez, making his Astros debut, struck out five in 5.1 innings, giving up his only run in the fifth on a leadoff triple by Pedro Alvarez and a single by Clint Barmes.
By that point, the Pirates were already down 5-0. The Astros scored in the first and third, then got three in the fifth when Jeff Locke allowed a three-run shot to right-center by Brett Wallace.
Besides the hits by Barmes and Alvarez, the Pirates' only hits came from Garrett Jones, who went 3-for-4.
At the time of this writing, the Cardinals were beating the Mets. If the Cardinals were to come out with a victory, the Pirates would fall to 2.5 games back in the Wild Card chase.
For more on the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout. For more on the Astros, there's Crawfish Boxes.