KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- "We just need to get home. We'll be fine."
If anyone is to be trusted to tell it like it is with the Pirates, it's A.J. Burnett, right?
And he's probably right. Because the most remarkable thing about that particular remark was that it came before the 5-1 flat-liner of a loss to the Royals that followed Wednesday night, one that left the visitors limping out of Kauffman Stadium having lost two of three to the American League champions and five of six on this mercifully completed trip.
If one didn't know better, one might think the clubhouse leader sensed something was amiss.
"If you want to know the truth, and I mean this honestly," A.J. continued in that same pregame talk, "I don't think we responded too well to the All-Star break, coming off all the good stuff that happened before, then being off for four days like that ... I don't know. Get us back to PNC Park, and we'll be fine."
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