Quick thought exercise on the most ridiculously horrible end-of-season scenario for the 2014 Pittsburgh Pirates. Shall we?

• After the Cardinals crater over the next week and a half, the Pirates have a chance to clinch the NL Central by winning of the season’s final two games on Sept. 27 and 28. They lose both, in walkoff fashion to the Reds, and St. Louis wins its final game to force a tiebreaker with the Pirates.

• The Pirates fly from Cincinnati to St. Louis to play in the NL Central tiebreaker on Sept. 29. They lose that game, let’s say in the 15th-inning when Pedro Alvarez (the last available third baseman on the bench) overthrows Ike Davis with two outs.

• The Pirates fly from St. Louis to San Francisco to play the NL Wild Card game. It is still conceivable that the Wild Card Giants have a better record than the NL Central winner, considered the Giants are currently 1.5 games ahead of the Cardinals. The Pirates, of course, lose the Wild Card. This time we’ll say it was a 6-0 laugher in which they never stood a chance.

Fun to think about, eh? Fun to think about the Bucs kicking your heart into 1,000 pieces and not even getting to play the postseason clincher, the NL Central tiebreaker or the NL Wild Card Game at home, eh?

If it happens even similarly to how I have laid it out, I will be fleeing to Canada before I am exiled.