It has been a frustrating 2016 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fan base. With recently nonexistent expectations raised by a couple brief postseason appearances, the Pirates unexpectedly find themselves below .500 after being swept by the Cubs and Brewers. How did the Pirates get here, and what might their short-term future hold?The Pirates have been one of the games feel-good stories in recent seasons. It wasnt long ago that they finally broke their seemingly interminable streak of sub-.500 seasons and turned things around to the point that their current losing streak is more than a bit off-putting, though they remain in the race for the second wild-card spot that seemingly no team wants to win.One of the factors that held the Bucs back during their generation of futility was a relatively low team payroll, and their standing in that regard has changed only modestly. Their Opening Day payroll checked in at just below $100 million ($99.945 million, to be exact), 19th in the majors. Their year-end ranking likely will fall a couple notches, thanks to the money-saving trades of Francisco Liriano and Mark Melancon.In 2012-15, the Pirates ranked 29th, 25th, 27th and 24th in team payroll, respectively. Over that span, the Rays and Astros were the only other teams to rank 24th or lower each season, and only two other clubs, the Indians and As, ranked below 20th in each of those four seasons.The Pirates have a superb and still relatively new ballpark, and their attendance has trended up in recent seasons, but the fact is they will never be near the top of the games salary rankings. They have flexibility to make a big strategic add if the competitive situation dictates it, but there will never be much margin for error.Its pretty simple. If the Pittsburgh Pirates wish to be perennial contenders, they have two primary tasks.1) They must grow their own superstars. This is because they simply are not able to compete for players at the top, or even upper-middle region, of the free-agent market.2) They must outsmart other clubs in an environment in which everyone is getting smarter. They must be creative, anticipate trends and zig when others are zagging.Before we look at how the Pirates currently grade out in those two areas, lets take a step back and assess how the Pirates have arrived at the intersection of Contention Street and Mediocrity Avenue. Wholesale Yeezy Shop . Bjorn, who had a 36-hole total of 8-under 134, made a testing six-foot putt to save par on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th before bogeying the final hole after a misjudged approach shot. American Kevin Streelman was in second place after shooting a 69. Discount Yeezy Store . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. https://www.yeezychina.us/ . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. Fake Yeezy Online . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. Wholesale Yeezy China . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. PHILADELPHIA -- Hit or no hit, Maikel Franco was just happy the Phillies won.Franco drove home the winning run with one out in the 12th inning on a play that eventually was ruled a single to give Philadelphia a 5-4 victory over the struggling San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.Ryan Howard homered among his three hits and Cameron Rupp also connected for Philadelphia. Franco finished with three RBI, including one on the unusual sequence that ended the game.With the bases loaded and one out, Franco lined what appeared to be a clean single into right-center field. But young teammate Aaron Altherr, who was on first base, got so excited about the Phillies winning that he rushed out to right field to congratulate Franco without ever touching second base.Giants catcher Buster Posey noticed the blunder and took a throw at second from right fielder Hunter Pence -- and second base umpire Dale Scott signaled that Altherr was out. Franco did indeed cross first base, though, so Tommy Joseph scored easily from third and the Giants had no chance at an inning-ending double play.When I saw (Hunter) Pence run out to center field to get the ball, I was like, `Whats going on here? Altherr said. Then when I saw him throw to second I was like, `Oh, (no). I feel terrible about it. Im just thankful we still got the win.Altherr said he would buy Franco dinner if the mistake cost his teammate a hit, but after a long delay following the game, the official scorer credited Franco with a single.Its more important that we won the ballgame, Franco said before the ruling. I got my RBI, we win the ballgame, thats what this game is all about.Posey singled, doubled and drove in three runs for the NL West leaders, who have lost 13 of 17 since the All-Star break. Denard Span had three hits.George Kontos (2-2) started the 12th by hitting Joseph with a pitch. He went to second on Luis Garcias sacrifice bunt and Philadelphia had runners on first and second with one out after Kontos walked Cesar Hernandez.Giants manager Bruce Bochy called on Jake Peavy for his first appearance since being demoted to the bullpen when the team acquired left-hander Matt Moore from Tampa Bay on Monday.Peavy induced a grounder by Altherr, but he reached to load the bases when third baseman Eduardo Nunez bobbled the ball for an error.Franco then drove the next pitch from Peavy into right-center.Anytime you win in extra innings, its a great win, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. When you lose, its terrible.Garcia (1-0)) pitched a scoreless inning for the win, capping an impressive performance by Philadelphias bullpen.dddddddddddd Six relievers combined to pitch seven shutout innings while allowing two hits.That was difference in the game, Bochy said. Their `pen shut us down completely.The teams combined to use 14 pitchers in a game that took 4 hours, 2 minutes.Franco hit a two-out, two-run single in the eighth off Giants starter Johnny Cueto to tie the score at 4 and complete Philadelphias comeback from a 4-0 deficit.FOR STARTERSGiants: Cueto was cruising along until giving up a pair of homers in the seventh and Francos hit in the eighth. He was lifted after allowing four runs in 7 2/3 innings while recording his 12th career double-digit strikeout game by fanning 10 Phillies. He gave up seven hits and walked one.I felt normal, Cueto said through a translator. I made all my pitches. The only thing I can say is they beat me.Phillies: Phil Klein recovered from a shaky first inning in an emergency start and lasted five innings, giving up four runs and eight hits. Philadelphia scratched scheduled starter Aaron Nola 4 hours before the game and placed him on the 15-day disabled list with a strained elbow.Prior to Wednesday, Klein made eight relief appearances for Texas this season and had pitched 36 games in his big league career. He was a 30th-round selection by the Rangers in 2011.Klein was optioned back to Triple-A after the game.NOLA SIDELINEDNola (6-9, 4.78 ERA) said he felt discomfort after his most recent start on Thursday in Atlanta.But I really didnt think it was anything, he said. It just kind of got sore a little bit. It kind of prolonged for the next couple of days and I told the (Phillies staff).The 23-year-old righty has been struggling for nearly two months and has a 9.82 ERA in his last eight starts. The Phillies skipped him once in the rotation before the All-Star break, but Nola said his struggles have had nothing to do with his health.No, no, I never felt any pain or any soreness, he said. I guess it just kind of flared up in that one game.Nola hopes to return this season, though the Phillies could be cautious with a young pitcher who is considered one of the key cornerstones in their rebuild.UP NEXTThe teams conclude their three-game series Thursday afternoon when Phillies RHP Vince Velasquez (8-3, 3.32 ERA) opposes Moore (7-7, 4.08). ' ' '