CHICAGO -- These Pirates are on a course to prove conclusively that they, and not some predecessors, are the worst team in the franchise's 124 years.

Bar none.

There is the terrible starting pitching, the latest being Paul Maholm's eight runs on 3 1/3 innings in a thoroughly red-faced 14-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs tonight at Wrigley Field. That marked the second consecutive day a pitcher had exactly that line, matching Charlie Morton's from Sunday, and it left the starters with a combined 24-73 record.

There is the terrible hitting, the latest being a seven-hit output, most of that after the Cubs had gone up by two touchdowns.

There is the terrible defense, the latest being a series of circuitous outfield routes, missed cutoff men, errant throws and a muffed popup that raised audible laughter from the 29,538 on hand.

There is the terrible baserunning, the latest being Andrew McCutchen anchoring himself to first base through two batters, 14 pitches and 11 minutes during the first inning when a steal would have resulted in a run.

There is the terrible lack of accountability, with no significant action by manager John Russell and not one member of the baseball operations staff accompanying the team on this six-game road trip. General manager Neal Huntington has been scouting the minor-league affiliates.

At the end, of course, there is the terrible record of 43-88, on pace for 53-109.

And, with all due respect to the 1890 Pittsburg Alleghenys who went 23-113 when they were not working in the mills and mines, as well as the 1952 "Rickey Dinks" who went 42-112, the current Pirates are operating in a sporting atmosphere where such anomalies are increasingly rare. In Major League Baseball, no team has lost more than 106 since the 2004 Arizona Diamondbacks went 51-111.

If this is not the worst team in that context, then good luck to the historian wishing to prove otherwise.

And this was against the Cubs, against whom the Pirates had been 9-3 to account for an astounding 21 percent of all their victories.

Maholm had nothing from the warmups onward, giving up his eight runs on nine hits, a walk and a hit batsman. And yes, that was Morton's identical line Sunday, too, except that five of Maholm's hits were doubles.

The bleeding remained profuse.

Sean Gallagher gave up a run, Brian Burres five more, as Chicago sent 11 men to the plate in the fourth, nine more in the fifth, for 11 runs in those two innings. In all, the Cubs pounded out 18 hits, including a two-run home run by pitcher Carlos Zambrano and nine doubles.

It marked the 11th time an opponent scored into double-digits, and the only outcomes more lopsided were the 20-0 and 17-3 losses to the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Pirates have lost four in a row, all on this trip, extending their road losing streak to 14. If that seems like a lot consider that there was a 17-game losing streak that spanned May and June. Since the beginning of that 17-gamer, they have won just four of their past 42 road games.

That is half of the 2010 road schedule.

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