Pirates owner Bob Nutting has called the team's second-half collapse "incredibly, intensely frustrating" and vowed to do what's necessary to prevent another.

"We're all frustrated by and upset with the performance and seriously looking at what do we need to do both to finish the year appropriately and make sure this isn't something we ever see again," he said.

He declined to specify whether changes could include shaking up the front office or coaching staff.

"There are loads of reasons and explanations (for the slide), but the bottom line is we're not playing acceptable baseball," Nutting said. "There's nothing acceptable about the way we've played the last couple weeks. We recognize that, and we're going to do everything we can to correct that."

The Pirates were a season-high 16 games over .500 on July 28. Since then, they have gone 15-29 and lost their grip on a wild-card playoff berth.