INTERLEAGUE Can it get any worse for Bucs?

The Pirates blew a three-run lead in the seventh to fall to the White Sox, 4-3.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- No major league team loses the way the Pittsburgh Pirates do, year in and year out. Still, not even the Pirates have known a losing streak this long.
The Pirates set a team record with their 13th consecutive defeat Wednesday night, blowing a three-run lead in the seventh inning and losing 4-3 to the Chicago White Sox.
Juan Uribe's bases-loaded triple keyed Chicago's four-run comeback. The Pirates put two runners on in the ninth against closer Bobby Jenks, but their best hitter, Jason Bay, struck out to end it.
"It's starting to get a little unbelievable," Bay said. "Until we get a lucky break, a lucky bounce, get off to a great start in a game, I don't know what the answer is. I know guys are pressing, because I know I am."
Broke modern-era mark
The Pirates, winless for more than two weeks, broke the modern-era (since 1900) club record of 12 straight losses set in 1939. The only longer losing streak in Pittsburgh's major league history was a 23-game slide by the Alleghenies in 1890.
Until the current streak -- one that has all but assured them of a 14th consecutive losing season -- the Pirates had not lost more than 10 in a row in 38 years or more than 11 in a row in 51 years. Their current 13-year streak of losing seasons is the longest in the majors and three short of the Phillies' major league record.
This record streak is visibly wearing on first-year manager Jim Tracy, who came out of spring training confident the Pirates were close to a turnaround -- even if they weren't a contender immediately.
"I've felt good about the effort of the club in a number of these games," Tracy said. "But it came down to them coming up with a big hit and we couldn't come up with that hit."
Chisox just the opposite
The White Sox, by contrast, are playing almost as well as the Pirates are playing poorly. With Scott Podsednik finishing off the seventh with a go-ahead RBI single, the World Series champions won their 11th in 12 games and 13th in 15 games. They are 12-2 in interleague play and have won their last eight series since dropping two of three to the Rangers from June 2-4.
For one of the few times in a skid that has seem them lose by six or more runs four times, the Pirates flirted with winning. Left-hander Paul Maholm took a 3-0 lead into the seventh after helping himself with two singles and his first career RBI. Pittsburgh got solo home runs from Jose Bautista in the third and Jeromy Burnitz in the sixth.
But the White Sox -- held to three hits over the first six innings by Maholm (2-7) -- started the seventh with consecutive singles by Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski and Joe Crede to load the bases.
"The way we're playing lately, the last couple of weeks, we always think we can come back against anybody," manager Ozzie Guillen said.
Podsednik's decisive single
Uribe then lined a shot past center fielder Bautista into right-center to clear the bases. Podsednik followed three batters later with his decisive single to right off Damaso Marte, one of four Pirates pitchers in the inning.
"We're ahead by three runs, then, before you blinked, it's single, single, single, triple, single. It just happened so fast," Bay said.
"They have a pretty good young club, at least from what I see," Guillen said. "They're fun to watch. The guys from the bullpen come after you, the kid [Maholm] today threw it real well, and they have some great talent. They came right after one of the best relievers in the AL, they're not afraid and they play the game right."