Bucs remain on track under Huntington

DENVER — There are challenges in building a contending ball club. Then there are the Pirates.

The Bucs have mastered the art of survival in an environment that provides them little margin for error. Pirates general manager and senior vice president Neal Huntington represents, as manager Clint Hurdle put it, “high quality in the art of roster construction.”

And Hurdle has done a pretty good job himself of making sure the pieces all fit.

“We have players who keep playing,” said Hurdle. “They play with emotion. They are not emotional.”

They get the job done. And the last couple of days have underscored what Hurdle means. The Pirates pulled out a 9-8 victory in 12 innings against the Rockies at Coors Field on Wednesday night, claiming their fourth consecutive victory despite blowing a 7-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings of play. That came three days after they let an 8-4 lead in the eighth inning and a 10-8 lead in the 12th inning get away, but salvaged a 12-10, 13-inning victory at Arizona on Sunday afternoon.

“These guys just keep playing to win the game,” said Hurdle.

It hasn’t always been that way. The Pirates won three consecutive division titles from 1990-92, but then went into a 20-year funk in which they not only failed to advance to the postseason, but didn’t even finish a …

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