Benito Santiago had to go. Pirates catchers Humberto Cota and David Ross have been throwing out would-be base stealers in a fashion Santiago can remember but no longer duplicate.

Ross and Cota have been so good, in fact, that they have given the Pirates a decided advantage when games are tight. Take a look.

In Santiago's six games, baserunners stole three bases in three tries. In 24 games caught by Ross and Cota, base runners have stolen only six bases, while nine have been gunned down.

Ross caught five of seven, for a percentage of .714, second only to the Cardinals' Yadier Molina among catchers who have started at least half their team's games. Cota has caught four of eight base stealers, for a .500 percentage in a league where the average is around .300.

Meantime, the Pirates have stolen 16 bases in 23 tries, a success rate a hair above the league average. And it gets better.

Until Sunday's blowout of the Diamondbacks, close games were essentially the only kind the Pirates could win. The Pirates began last night 11-7 in games decided by three runs or less (and 2-10 in the other kind.) They had not given up a lead in any of the nine games in which they had led after six innings and managed to win four others by scoring late.

Why have they been so good late in close games?

Well, it can't be the manager. Lloyd McClendon's team might not blow leads, and it might win most of the close ones, but that doesn't mean McClendon should get credit. I know that from my e-mail.

There's the bullpen, of course, but every Pirates fan already knows about Jose Mesa and his mates. Less known is the catchers' work at crunch time.

ESPN keeps stats on how teams do "close and late." It includes any time beginning in the seventh inning when the teams are within a run of each other or the tying run is at least on deck.

In those games, Pirates catchers and runners have been terrific. Pirates runners have stolen six bases in six tries. The catchers have snuffed rallies by nailing runners five times out of six.

I haven't checked how those late runner kills are split between Cota and Ross. But I know if you inserted Santiago into those situations, the Pirates' edge would disappear. He has thrown out only 18 of the 93 men to steal on him going back to 2003, a miserable .194 percentage.

That brings us to the bats. Santiago can still hit. What about Ross and Cota?

It's not as if they're facing stiff competition. The average National League catcher hits .240 with a .299 on-base average and .361 slugging average. That amounts to an on-base plus slugging average of .660. Both Ross and Cota have topped that OPS, mainly because of their slugging.

Ross: .255/.273/.529/.802 in 51 AB.

Cota: .200/.282/.429/.711 in 35 AB.

Ross' slugging tops NL catchers with at least 50 at-bats, and both these guys have more extra-base hits than singles this season. Neither has a good career batting average, but both have career slugging averages about 200 points above their averages. Those numbers:

Ross: .214/.429 in 350 AB

Cota: .231/.427 in 143 AB

The Pirates don't know exactly what they have here. These track records aren't long, and each man must clean up holes in his defense before anyone suggests time shares on a Gold Glove. Ross has three passed balls already, and Cota two. But Ross' career caught-stealing percentage is .370 (34 in 92 attempts) and Cota's is .412 (7 of 17). Throw like that and you can be a .220 hitter with power and help your team.

The Pirates traded pitching prospect Leo Nunez to get Santiago, so to release him after only six games is tough. Given the absence of trade interest, one wonders why it took any prospect to lift him from Kansas City. But the Pirates didn't have Ross then and didn't expect all this when they got him from the Dodgers for a bag of doughnuts in March.

There was another reason not to send Ross to the minors, though none were needed. This keeps Ryan Doumit catching in Indianapolis. Doumit needs that experience in Class AAA, having caught only 134 games in the lower minors the past three seasons because of illness and injury.

Doumit has hit .325 with a .411 OBA and .650 SLG in 80 AB. That's rare from a catcher. This 24-year-old switch hitter has a good arm and can play the outfield, but if Doumit can catch at all, that's where he should play for the Pirates in 2006. Meantime, what they have is not too shabby.