The Bad News Bucs

The Pirates downed the Cardinals today, 7-0. Scott Rolen returned after missing the first two games of the series with back spasms and contributed a double, but also hit into a double play. Paul Maholm got his rightful victory over Jason Marquis with another stellar start. He lasted 6 and 2/3 innings. Jason Bay's bat woke up today, when he homered for the Bucs' first run. Joe Randa followed him with another. Also making a big splash today were Chris Duffy with a 2-RBI single and Freddy Sanchez with a 2-RBI double. Sanchez leads the NL in doubles as well as batting average and was 6 for 13 this series. Duffy was 7 for 11, which bodes well for his continued employment in center field. The other notable events today were the HBPs; Duffy got hit once and Jose Bautista was beaned twice. After the second, Bautista turned to the mound and said something. Cards' catcher Bennett followed Bautista towards first base with some unkind words; the announcers on TV were surprised Bennett wasn't ejected. There's no word on the motive behind the HBPs, if there was one at all.