The stat is so staggering that DJ Gallo, Page 2's resident Pirates fan, refused to write this piece even though he was offered an autographed baseball from Sid Bream, a car ride with Jose Lind and free tickets to the Pirates-Astros game on Sept. 24 (he feared neither team would be in the pennant race by then).

The stat: The Pirates have lost 22 consecutive games in Milwaukee, a feat accomplished just one other time in National League history. You surely remember the 25 in a row the Reds lost in St. Louis from 1929-31, right? (Note: This doesn't even include the three games Pittsburgh lost to Milwaukee last week in Pittsburgh by a combined score of 36-1.)

Anyway, this is such a stunning streak I had to look up all 22 games to see what went wrong. Here's the synopsis:

22. April 26, 2010: Mil 17, Pit 3. Pirates' staff ERA balloons to 7.74 after 19 games.
21. Aug. 30, 2009: Mil 4, Pit 1. Pirates outhit Brewers 9-5 but still lose. (Get used to this.)
20. Aug. 29, 2009: Mil 7, Pit 3. Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Mike Cameron and Felipe Lopez go hitless. Pirates still lose.
19. Aug. 28, 2009: Mil 8, Pit 6. Brewers score five in the first off Zach Duke, who lasts three innings and gives up hits to 11 of the 19 batters he faced (.579 average allowed).

18. April 29, 2009: Mil 1, Pit 0. Yovani Gallardo allows two hits, fans 11 and hits a home run. Yes, Pittsburgh literally loses to one guy.
17. April 28, 2009: Mil 6, Pit 5. Brian Bixler gets two hits but Pirates still somehow lose.
16. April 27, 2009: Mil 10, Pit 5. Eight walks, three homers allowed, 11 strikeouts by the hitters, Craig Monroe hitting third. Pirates baseball!

15. Sept. 25, 2008: Mil 5, Pit 1. Ryan Braun wins it with a grand slam in the 10th.
14. Sept. 24, 2008: Mil 4, Pit 2. Brewers get two hits but still win as Pirates pitchers walk nine batters.
13. Sept. 23, 2008: Mil 7, Pit 5. Tie game, bottom of ninth. T.J. Beam versus Prince Fielder. Who do you think won that matchup?

12. Aug. 24, 2008: Mil 4, Pit 3. Mike Cameron goes 5-for-5. Pirates leave 14 on in 12-inning loss. Part of a 10-game losing streak.
11. Aug. 23, 2008: Mil 6, Pit 3. Doug Mientkiewicz played right field in this game for Pittsburgh.
10. Aug. 22, 2008: Mil 10, Pit 4. It was a good game until the Brewers scored six in the seventh.

9. July 6, 2008: Mil 11, Pit 6. Brewers hit nine doubles and two homers. Yes, the team with 11 extra-base hits won.
8. July 5, 2008: Mil 2, Pit 1. Paul Maholm tosses eight strong innings. Tyler Yates enters in the ninth and gives up two walks and a game-winning hit to Fielder. Have we mentioned that Pittsburgh has had relief issues through the years?
7. July 4, 2008: Mil 9, Pit 1. Doug Mientkiewicz started at third base in this game. The pitcher hit eighth. The fielders made errors.

6. Sept. 2, 2007: Mil 7, Pit 4. Franquelis Osoria loses it in relief. Franquelis Osoria!
5. Sept. 1, 2007: Mil 12, Pit 1. Shane Youman, Romulo Sanchez and Juan Perez combine to get the crap beat out of them.
4. Aug. 31, 2007: Mil 2, Pit 1. Gallardo strikes out seven and hits a homer. Safe to say that he owns the Pirates.

3. May 6, 2007; Mil 6, Pit 4. Whatever happened to Chris Duffy anyway?
2. May 5, 2007: Mil 6, Pit 3. Zach Duke started for Pittsburgh. This was the year he allowed a .359 average in 107 innings.
1. May 4, 2007: Mil 10, Pit 0. Not even worth talking about.