Surprising Pittsburgh Pirates bucking for playoff spot

Over the last 20 years, the Pittsburgh Pirates typically were among baseball’s sad sacks, often languishing near the bottom of the standings.

The Bucs haven’t been in the playoffs since 1992. And the team that’s produced such Hall of Famers as Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Honus Wagner hasn’t appeared in the World Series in 33 years.

That could change this year with a Pirates club that’s gunning for a pennant, which is why the Dodgers can expect a tough four-game series starting Monday at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

The Pirates, under Manager Clint Hurdle, showed promise in the first half of 2011 and were leading the National League Central in late July. Then they tumbled in the second half and finished with 90 losses.

They weren’t expected to improve much this season. The division race was expected to be between the Milwaukee Brewers, the defending division champs; the St. Louis Cardinals, last year’s World Series winners; and the Cincinnati Reds.

And as the season opened, the Pirates were swept by the Dodgers in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

But Pittsburgh since has jelled into a strong team. The Pirates have one of the league’s best hitters in Andrew McCutchen, one of its best starting pitchers in A.J. Burnett and one of its best closers in Joel Hanrahan.

With a record of 63-49 through Friday, Pittsburgh was second in the NL Central, 31/2 games behind the Reds, and stood second, two games behind the Atlanta Braves, in the race for the NL’s two wild-card playoff berths. The Pirates also have one of the best home records in the big leagues at 35-19.

The question is whether the Pirates can avoid folding like they did last year. In the meantime, they’ve been trying to catch Cincinnati for the last month but the Reds also had been playing well before a five-game losing streak that ended Friday.

Assembled by General Manager Neal Huntington with a season-opening payroll of about $62 million — 14th in the 16-team NL — the Pirates have “good players, they pitch well, they’ve got some power and some speed,” Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said. “And they’ve got some excitement going on.”

Pittsburgh’s big bat is McCutchen, a 25-year-old All-Star who was named the NL’s player of the month in June (.370 with 26 runs batted in) and again in July (.446 with 15 more RBIs).

That made McCutchen the first Pirate to win the award twice in the same season since Bobby Bonilla in 1988, and the first NL player to receive the honor in consecutive months since Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2006.

McCutchen, who this spring signed a six-year, $51.5-million contract extension, leads the majors with a .365 batting average through Friday and had 23 home runs, 78 runs and 69 RBIs.

Mattingly also singled out Neil Walker, whose 65 RBIs through Friday ranked second among major league second basemen. The Pirates also are getting added power from rookie left fielder Starling Marte, who already has four home runs and 10 RBIs since being called up two weeks ago.

Burnett led Pittsburgh’s rotation with a record of 14-3 and a 3.19 earned-run average before his start Saturday against San Diego. He’s scheduled to face the Dodgers on Thursday.

The 35-year-old veteran, who came from the New York Yankees this season, notched two of those wins in the week that ended Aug. 5, when he had 15 strikeouts and a stingy 1.02 ERA, earning him the NL player-of-the-week award.

Then there’s starter James McDonald, the Long Beach native whom the Dodgers traded to Pittsburgh two years ago. The lanky right-hander started strong and is 10-5, but McDonald has struggled of late. He hasn’t won since July 18, allowing 20 earned runs in 211/3 innings over his last four starts.

Still, if the Dodgers can’t get a lead against Burnett or the other Pittsburgh starters, they face rough sledding because of Hanrahan, who leads the league in saves with 33. When the Pirates lead after seven innings, their record is 54-1.

At the nonwaiver trade deadline two weeks ago, the Pirates also acquired pitchers Chad Qualls and Wandy Rodriguez, first baseman Gaby Sanchez and outfielder Travis Snider.

The Dodgers are catching the Pirates in a bit of a lull. Through Friday, Pittsburgh was 5-5 in its previous 10 games. And the Pirates don’t have a lot of players with pennant-race experience.

So far, though, “you don’t see anybody putting more pressure on themselves,” Pirates catcher Rod Barajas, who played for the Dodgers last year, told thePittsburgh Post-Gazette. Not dwelling on bad at-bats and other failures “is the hardest thing to overcome when you’re fighting for a playoff spot,” he said.

Especially the first one in 20 years.

james.peltz@latimes.com