Anatomy of a losing streak: How did the Pirates get this bad this fast?

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ losing streak is not singularly about Josh Bell or the trade of Jordan Lyles or pitchers who don’t belong in the big leagues or the inability to win close games.

It’s about all of that.

Let’s start with Bell.

• The guy knows how to throw a baseball and hit home runs. He has been doing those things all his life, even at the expense of playing other sports while growing up. He is a supremely talented athlete with a will to succeed and the physical means to do so.

But poor play is contagious, and Bell looks like he is trying not to fail rather than aggressively attacking the sport like he did in May, when the Pirates never lost more than two in a row.

He has five hits (three singles, two doubles) in 28 at-bats during the Pirates’ nine-game losing streak. He hit 27 home runs in the first 86 games of the season, almost one every third game. He was one of the most celebrated players in the game.

But he hasn’t hit a homer and has driven in only two runs in the past 18 games.

Amazingly, he still leads the majors in RBIs (86), but Mike Trout is catching up (85).

• It’s not difficult to understand why the Pirates didn’t get more for Lyles than a pitcher who has been in Double-A for two seasons: Lyles has an ERA of 15.00 in July.

The problem Monday night when Lyles was scheduled to pitch was this: There was no one of consequence on the roster to replace him, and the Pirates lost 11-6. That will need to change this week, whether it’s through a trade or the return of Steven Brault from the injured list.

The Pirates have used Dovydas Neverauskas (10.61 ERA), Alex McRae (9.98), Nick Kingham (9.87), Geoff Hartlieb (8.10), Montana DuRapau (7.24), Rookie Davis (6.75) and Clay Holmes (6.54) for a total of 120⅓ innings.

That doesn’t include the previous failures of others on the staff — many of whom have improved recently — and the injury to Keone Kela, who was acquired last year to solidify the bullpen.

No wonder the Pirates have lost nine in a row and 15 of 17. There is some unfortunate symmetry in the Pirates having seven-, eight- and nine-game losing streaks this season.

• The Pirates have had a few determined comebacks this season that kept up everyone’s hopes, but they have lost something along the way. Seven of the nine losses in the streak were decided by three runs or fewer.

There are limits to how far and how often a losing team can make successful comebacks, especially when it is giving up almost seven runs per game (60 in nine games).

• One more note: The Pirates have lost 60 games. They didn’t reach that number the past two years until Aug. 13 and Aug. 15, respectively.

The Pirates haven’t lost 90 games since 2011, Clint Hurdle’s first season and the last of a seven-year stretch of 90 or more defeats. To avoid that ignominious distinction, they must win 27 of their final 56 games.

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